The Green Bay Packers have a ton of young and promising wide receivers on their roster, but general manager Brian Gutekunst could take a huge swing on a blockbuster trade to bring one of the greatest wideouts in franchise history back to Green Bay.
Since losing Davante Adams in a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Packers have struggled to replace his impact on offense. Rookie Christian Watson showed legitimate flashes of becoming an impact playmaker, but Jordan Love will likely need another wide receiver to prove himself as a reliable weapon in 2023 and beyond.
Jonathan Delray with Bleacher Report provided a trade proposal for the Packers to find that reliable weapon next to Watson. In his proposal, Green Bay would be reuniting with Adams with the 30-year-old receiver potentially wanting to move on after the Raiders parted ways with his college quarterback in Derek Carr.
Packers Receive: WR Davante Adams
Raiders Receive: OT Yosh Nijman, 2024 2nd-round pick, 2024 3rd-round pick
While the Packers would be losing their backup swing tackle and multiple draft picks, this trade proposal would give Love one of the best wideouts in the NFL.
Could A Davante Adams Trade Work?
As exciting as a reunion with Adams would be for Packers fans, there’s a lot that would need to happen for the Raiders to move their superstar wide receiver.
Adams had a phenomenal year with the Raiders, racking up 100 receptions for 1,516 yards, and a league-leading 14 touchdowns. Las Vegas has no reason to want to lose that kind of playmaker, and financially it makes even less sense for both sides.
According to Over The Cap, Adams is still under contract through the 2026 season. While a post-June 1 trade will give the Raiders a much more manageable dead cap hit, the Packers would have to take on the remainder of the 30-year-old receiver’s contract.
The Packers currently have just $16 million in cap space for 2023 and less than $24 million projected for 2024 before contract extensions for key starters like Rashan Gary and Jon Runyan Jr..
Adams alone will count for nearly $15 million against the cap this season and $25.3 million next, so unless the Packers are willing to make significant changes to their roster, the team simply doesn’t have the cap space to afford reuniting with the superstar wideout unless the two sides were willing to restructure his deal and continue pushing cap hits down the road.
The Packers May Pursue A Different Receiver
With Adams unlikely returning to Green Bay, there are a few other veteran options that the Packers could pursue.
Gutekunst and his staff recently brought in veteran Keke Coutee for a workout. While the two sides didn’t sign a deal immediately after the workout, there is optimism that a deal could be happening in the next few weeks.
If the Packers are determined to land a star playmaker, there are a few that they could pursue in a trade. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could decide to move on from Chris Godwin in a potential rebuild, while the Cincinnati Bengals may want to get a return on investment for Tyler Boyd before he becomes a free agent in 2024.
Even if the Packers aren’t able to bring in a veteran, they have plenty of young pass catchers who will be able to grow and develop with Love in 2023 and beyond.
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Packers Trade Proposal Sends $140 Million Playmaker to Green Bay