Proposed Trade Lands Packers ‘Perfect’ No. 1 WR for 2 Picks

Metcalf-GB Trade Proposal

Getty Brian Gutekunst, general manager of the Green Bay Packers speaks to reporters during the NFL Draft Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on March 1, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Green Bay Packers have reached a point where it is impossible to think they will head into the 2022 season without making a splash play at wide receiver, and ESPN’s top insider for the team thinks there could be a “perfect” option on the trade market if the Packers are willing to pay a first-round price tag.

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky recently put together a hypothetical trade package that the Packers could offer to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for stud receiver DK Metcalf, drawing upon his insight from more than two decades covering the team to lay out a plausible scenario that could benefit all parties involved.

“While they still could draft a receiver high, even with the No. 22 overall pick they acquired from the Raiders in the trade for (Davante) Adams, they know how hard it is for a rookie receiver to make an immediate impact — especially with a quarterback as precise and demanding as Aaron Rodgers,” Demovsky wrote on April 7.

To pull off a trade for Metcalf, Demovsky proposes the Packers offer up one of their first-round picks (No. 28 overall) and one of their fourth-round picks (No. 132). Seattle would get some immediate draft assets to jumpstart their rebuild in 2022, while Green Bay would get a new No. 1 receiver and would still have one pick leftover in both the first (No. 22) and fourth (No. 140, compensatory) rounds.

“It would essentially mean the Packers finally used a first-round pick on a receiver, although not in the actual draft,” Demovsky continued. “They haven’t drafted a receiver in Round 1 since Javon Walker in 2002. It could also be the perfect spot for Metcalf, going from top-line quarterback in Russell Wilson to one of the best in Rodgers.”

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Will Seahawks Budge on Trading Metcalf?

For the time being, Metcalf’s availability on the trade market seems to be mostly superficial. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported on April 6 that the Seahawks were, in fact, getting calls about their young pass-catcher from interested teams, but he noted that it was going to “take a lot to pry him out of Seattle.”

That could be a way of saying the Seahawks are interested in trading him but want to encourage a bidding way to get the best return. It could also just easily mean that Seattle has virtually no interest in trading him unless they get an impossible-to-refuse offer from a desperate team.

While Metcalf is an extraordinary young receiver who could have a big role in the future of Seattle’s franchise, there are some reasons to think they might want to move on. For one, Metcalf is heading into a contract year in 2022 and will presumably be looking to sign a lucrative extension when the time comes. That is more difficult to pull off when the Seahawks are already committed to paying one receiver, Tyler Lockett, an expensive contract — and even more so with a question mark at the quarterback position.

The Seahawks have also addressed the Metcalf trade chatter in a similar way to how they talked about Russell Wilson’s status with the team before shipping him to Denver. Here’s a look at his comments on the legitimacy of trade rumors for both players:

Carroll about Wilson on March 2: “We have no intention of making any move there, but the conversations, (general manager John Schneider) has to field those. He always has. But nothing specific to that.”

Carroll on Metcalf on March 29: “We intend for him to be with us. We’d love to figure that out. We are in a normal kind of mode this time of year, we have not gotten to that topic yet specifically because we’ve got so many other things going on, but we’d love to have him.”

Maybe the Seahawks mean it this time, but never say never — even if they do.

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