Getty Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy of the Denver Broncos.
The Green Bay Packers have one of the youngest wide receiver position groups in modern NFL history, but an experienced playmaker may soon arrive on the trade block.
The Denver Broncos are 0-3 and continue to waste the early prime of gifted wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. Talk of the Broncos hitting the trade market hard as sellers and beginning a rebuild has ratcheted up after the team fell by 50 points to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Nick Kosmider of The Athletic on Tuesday, September 26, laid out the case for Jeudy entering the trade market ahead of the October 31 deadline.
“The 2020 first-round pick has two more seasons left on his rookie deal, this one included, after the Broncos picked up his fifth-year option in the spring,” Kosmider wrote. “He is due to count $12.99 million against the salary cap in 2024, all of it fully-guaranteed. So any team trading for Jeudy now, or in the coming weeks, would have a lengthy window in which to evaluate him before deciding whether it should offer an extension.”
That financial situation makes considerable sense for Green Bay, which has several promising young prospects at wide receiver who, nevertheless, are surrounded by question marks involving injury and/or inexperience.
Packers Have Quality Group of Young WRs, but Can Still Use Jerry Jeudy
GettyPackers wide receiver Christian Watson has missed the first three games of 2023 due to a hamstring injury.
Green Bay has invested heavily in pass-catchers over the last two drafts and appear to have hit on several. Christian Watson showed himself as one of the league’s most explosive playmakers as a rookie in 2022, while Romeo Doubs has three touchdowns through three games with new starting quarterback Jordan Love at the helm.
Rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have also had moments early in their professional careers, while Samori Toure is making a strong case for himself as a long-time reserve wideout in the league.
All that said, there are still issues in the Packers’ wide receiver room. Watson has already missed the first three games of his sophomore campaign with a hamstring injury after sitting out three contests due to injury last year.
Doubs was also hurt last season and doesn’t appear like he’s going to be the dynamic type of playmaker that Watson and Jeudy have shown they can be. As for everyone else on Green Bay’s roster at the position, they haven’t played long enough for the Packers to truly know yet what they have in each man.
Jerry Jeudy Has Performed as ‘Borderline Pro Bowler’ Over Last 17 Games Played
GettyWide receiver Jerry Jeudy of the Denver Broncos stands on the sidelines before an NFL game in October 2022.
While Jeudy has had a slow start to this season, and has arguably underperformed his first-round draft position (No. 15 overall in 2020), Kosmider laid out a case for the wide receiver as a borderline Pro Bowler.
Jeudy, over the last 17 games he’s played, has 75 catches for 1,078 yards and six touchdowns — borderline Pro-Bowl numbers. He’s integral to what the Broncos are doing now, but he’s also the player who would probably provide the most value in a trade this side of cornerback Pat Surtain II.
A first-round pick would probably be a stretch to ask for in a Jeudy deal. The Broncos reportedly resisted overtures this offseason that didn’t rise to that level. But Denver is already in a different position than it was then and could re-explore the market for one of its top offensive playmakers.
While Love is also early in his career as a starter, the offense and surrounding skill players the Packers can offer Jeudy should make him even better if he begins catching passes from Green Bay’s new starting quarterback.
As far as what the Packers can give up for Jeudy, the team will have an extra second-round pick at its disposal in 2024. That selection will come from the New York Jets via the Aaron Rodgers trade, which took place over the offseason. Based on the value Kosmider ascribed to Jeudy, a draft asset in that range would probably be enough to get a deal done.