Getty Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates his touchdown with teammate Alshon Jeffery #17 in the second quarter against the New York Giants on October 11,2018 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Green Bay Packers could end up staying inactive ahead of next Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, but it sounds as though they made efforts to acquire at least one high-profile target over the past month.
According to Ed Kracz of Sports Illustrated, the Packers were one of two teams who made trade offers for Philadelphia star tight end Zach Ertz before the Eagles placed him on injured reserve on Oct. 22. The Baltimore Ravens were the other team interested in acquiring Ertz, but Kracz did not indicate what either team offered for him.
Ertz would have been a star-studded addition to quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ arsenal with 549 career receptions for 5,921 yards and 36 touchdowns over his eight seasons in Philadelphia, but making his contract work would have taken some solid negotiating from Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. Even injured, Ertz carries a cap hit of $12.48 million for the Eagles this season and will either cost them $12.47 million to keep or $7.77 million to cut loose for the 2021 season.
The Packers also have several young tight ends in development, including a pair of third-round picks from each of their last two draft classes. Veteran Marcedes Lewis might not be asked to stick around after 2020, but the rotation of Robert Tonyan, Jace Sternberger and Josiah Deguara (assuming his ACL recovery goes smoothly) would offer plenty of foundation for the position moving forward.
All league trades must be completed before the deadline arrives at 3 p.m. CT on Nov. 3.
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If Packers Trade, What Positions Make Sense?
The Packers remained quiet at last year’s trade deadline despite some positional needs and may be likely to head down the same path in 2020, but there are some areas of their roster that could benefit from the right reinforcements if they do pull the trigger.
Wide receiver is the obvious spot. While Davante Adams is one of the best in the league and Allen Lazard could soon return from injured reserve, the rest of the receiving corps hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations. Marquez Valdes-Scantling has caught less than half of the passes thrown his way (15-of-34) through six games, including an 0-for-4 performance against the Texans.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling is still the guy the quarterback can never fully trust.
The other three rostered wideouts have combined for six receptions for 63 yards with Rodgers finding more success throwing to his tight ends and running backs.
Aaron Nagler of CheeseheadTV reported last week the Packers had been calling around to other teams about wideouts on the trading block, saying he was unsure of specific targets but had “heard they are making plenty of calls.” With the Packers now expected to sign former Carolina Panthers veteran Seth Roberts, though, the prospects of them trading for another wide receiver seem low.
Adding another experienced defensive lineman to pair with Kenny Clark and Kingsley Keke would also make plenty of sense. Dean Lowry looked decent against the run in Houston, but his overall play hasn’t measured up to the cost of a contract carrying the Packers’ 10th-largest cap hit ($5.2 million) in 2020. And now that Tyler Lancaster is injured, the remaining depth boils down to Montravius Adams and Billy Winn.
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