Packers Trade Proposal Nets Team $15 Million WR as Lazard Replacement

The Green Bay Packers need to add help at wide receiver this offseason but must figure out a way to do so at a reasonable cost.

A short-term solution is to work out a deal for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, who the Denver Broncos shopped ahead of last year’s trade deadline and who presumably remains on the block this offseason.

Heading into his fourth professional campaign in 2023, Jeudy is scheduled to count $4.8 million against the salary cap this upcoming year. If the Packers landed Jeudy in a trade, they would still have time to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie deal and lock him in for 2024 at a cost just shy of $13 million.

The move would give Green Bay flexibility to extend Jeudy if he shows promise in the system or utilize his contract as an asset a year from now. In the meantime, the Packers bring in a legitimate No. 2 option to line up alongside breakout star Christian Watson and replace pending free agent Allen Lazard, who may want a contract incommensurate with his actual value to the franchise.

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Broncos Incentivized to Trade Jerry Jeudy, Packers in Need of Receiver

The Broncos are undergoing a significant transition, as new head coach Sean Payton arrives in an attempt to revitalize quarterback Russell Wilson’s career and help the Broncos get some kind of return on the nearly $243 million investment the team made in him one year ago.

Although it was a different Broncos coaching staff interested in moving Jeudy at the deadline, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report still described Denver finding a deal for the wide receiver as the franchise’s “dream trade scenario” this offseason.

While new Broncos head coach Sean Payton might be higher on Jeudy than the previous regime, moving him could still make sense. … He hasn’t quite become the difference-maker the Broncos were hoping to get when they selected him 15th overall in the 2020 draft.

The demand for Jeudy might not be astronomical. Getting a second- or high-third-round pick for him seems realistic — he can have two years left on his rookie deal if his fifth-year option gets picked up — and would be a big win for a Broncos team with major needs and sparse draft capital.

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Packers May Try to Bring Allen Lazard Back, Contract Will be Sticking Point

The Packers aren’t giving up on Lazard just yet, though failing to plan a way to replace him would be a presumptuous mistake.

Heavy’s NFL insider Matt Lombardo reported earlier this week that Green Bay has opened a dialogue with Lazard in an attempt to re-sign him long-term. Spotrac projects Lazard’s market value at nearly $37.6 million over a three-year deal, which translates into a little more than $12.5 million annually.

That’s a pretty penny to pay for a player who put up career highs in catches (60) and receiving yards (788) along with six touchdowns in 15 games played last season. Despite having an MVP-caliber Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball for his entire NFL tenure, Lazard has eclipsed 500 yards just twice and caught more than 40 passes in a year only once, per Pro Football Reference.

On the other hand, Jeudy hauled in 67 catches for 972 yards and six scores last season, despite the Broncos fielding the 21st-rated offense in the NFL with a hapless Wilson under center and the recently fired Nathaniel Hackett running the show.

If Lazard can command anything close to his projected value on the open market, it probably would not be financially responsible of the Packers to match, especially considering Jeudy’s value would be higher in 2023 at roughly one-third the cost and probably higher in 2024 at an essentially equal number.

If Green Bay does decide to pay Lazard, it will be an indicator that the team is interested in hanging on to Rodgers for next season, as the quarterback has specifically named Lazard one of the players he’d like to see return to the team in 2023.

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