Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers talks with quarterback Aaron Rodgers #12 on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on October 06, 2019 in Arlington, Texas.
The Green Bay Packers need to add a wide receiver, or several, this offseason, and there are still a handful of exciting names in play.
At the top of that list is Seattle Seahawks wideout DK Metcalf. Entering his fourth NFL season in 2022, Metcalf has already been selected to one Pro Bowl (2020) and amassed nearly 3,200 receiving yards to go along with 29 touchdowns. He lost his quarterback when the Seahawks punted on Russell Wilson and presumably hit the reset button on their entire team. If Seattle is going into full rebuild mode, it might make sense to part ways with Metcalf who is up for what figures to be a pricey extension after next season.
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noted that if a trade for a high-profile pass catcher is how Green Bay decides to add a true No. 1 target for four-time MVP and newly-extended quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Metcalf is probably as good as it gets.
“Perhaps the best option via trade is DK Metcalf, if the Seattle Seahawks are willing to make a deal,” Demovsky wrote Tuesday, March 29.
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Packers HC Matt LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst Address Need at WR
GettyWide receiver Davante Adams, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur spoke to the desperate need to add talent at the WR position after the team traded away All-Pro Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders for their first-round and second-round draft picks next month. Green Bay also lost Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the Kansas City Chiefs via free agency.
LaFleur’s comments came Tuesday at the NFL’s owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Certainly, if you look at our roster right now, we definitely need to get some speed in that room,” LaFleur said. “We need a legit guy that can take off the top of the coverage. We lost a guy that was pretty good at doing that.”
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst also spoke to how the team must address the loss of Adams, saying one man may not be enough to do the job.
“To replace a guy like Davante Adams is gonna be kind of a multifaceted approach,” Gutekunst said. “It won’t be like a singular guy.”
Demovsky noted that Green Bay now owns picks 22, 28, 53 and 59 in the upcoming NFL Draft and are likely to select at least one pass catcher in what is a deep crop of wide receivers. However, banking on a rookie to lead a staff of wideouts currently topped by Allen Lazard and an aging Randall Cobb is a tall order and far from a sure bet — a reality that makes trading for a talent like Metcalf all the more appealing, at least in theory.
Two Former NFL GMs Aren’t Buying a Packers Trade For Metcalf
To that end, Green Bay first reached out to Seattle a week ago to inquire about both Metcalf and his fellow wide receiver Tyler Lockett, per Jack Settleman of Snapback Sports.
Sources tell me the Packers and Chiefs have inquired about DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett’s availability.
Seattle is open to listening to offers for their star WRs but nothing is imminent.
“Sources tell me the Packers and Chiefs have inquired about DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett’s availability,” Settleman tweeted Wednesday, March 23. “Seattle is open to listening to offers for their star WRs but nothing is imminent.”
Two days later, a couple of former NFL executives went beyond the idea that “nothing is imminent” when it comes to a Packers deal for Metcalf. Both Randy Meuller of Heavy.com, previously the general manager of the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins, and Mike Tannenbaum, previously the GM of the New York Jets, said they don’t see the Packers making the kind of financial investment required to acquire and retain Metcalf.
“I think it’s a philosophical decision that Green Bay has made. If they were going to [trade for Metcalf], they might have just been better off keeping Davante Adams,” Meuller said Friday, March 25. “I think in their case, they’ve decided that they’re not going to pay a receiver $25 million per year, or even $20 million per year. And if you get a guy like DK Metcalf, guess what’s coming next? Whether he’s worth it or not, that’s what he’ll be asking for.”
Tannenbaum also chimed in on the subject, sharing a similar sentiment.
“I think it’s a resource allocation. You saw them sign Rasul Douglas, the corner that they hit on. They re-signed De’Vondre Campbell, Preston Smith,” Tannenbaum said. “At this point, if I was going to go that route [of trading for Metcalf], I would’ve kept [Davante] Adams. I know there’s that stat out there that the Packers haven’t drafted a first-round receiver since Javon Walker, but I think it’s likely they’ll take one this year.”