Few units on the Packers are as tightly knit as the defensive backs, so when news of the unexpected trade of one of their ranks—veteran corner Rasul Douglas—at the NFL deadline on Tuesday spread, the reaction was, understandably, one of disappointment.
No one seemed to take it harder than fifth-year cornerback Keisean Nixon, who was still emotional when he spoke about the move after practice on Wednesday.
“I don’t really have a reaction, I am really lost for words,” Nixon told reporters. “I understand it’s a business but I’m still sick to my stomach, honestly.”
Keisean Nixon said the Packers lost “somebody who stabilized the locker room” in trading Rasul Douglas.
“I was really lost for words. I understand it’s a business, but I’m still sick to my stomach, honestly.”
Nixon subtly jabbed at the team’s decision-makers for dealing away Douglas, who was an outspoken veteran unafraid to say what was on his mind. Nixon said Douglas tried to embody the approach that coaches and team higher-ups preach.
“Somebody who stabilized the locker room,” Nixon said. “Big part of what we was preaching and coaching as a team, and now he’s gone.”
Rasul Douglas Criticized Packers Before Trade
The Packers will get a third-round pick in next year’s draft in exchange for Douglas while sending a fifth-rounder to Buffalo. They also will save Douglas’ cap hit next year, reported at $5.6 million, which is important for a team that will deal with the cap headache of Aaron Rodgers’ dead money in 2024.
The Packers denied on Wednesday that Douglas was traded because he was too outspoken, a trait that showed itself on Sunday after the disappointing loss to Minnesota. Douglas went on a profanity-laced tirade after the game, one that might have been unbecoming, but one that was packed with truth.
“We’re saying s*** but until we actually do the s***, it don’t really matter,” Douglas said after Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, per ESPN.com. “I’m thinking about it like, bro, I’ve never been a loser in my life. These last two years have been f***ing loser. That s*** ain’t me. I don’t think that s***’s us. We’ve got to do something, you know what I mean?”
That is the kind of leadership the team should be getting from star corner Jaire Alexander, whose play has not been up to snuff this season. Alexander has had injury concerns all season, but even with those, he has been disappointing—with a season grade of 60.8 at PFF, a career low, Alexander ranks 65th of 116 cornerbacks in the NFL.
There will be more pressure on him with Douglas gone.
“I was pretty surprised, to say the least,” Alexander told reporters. “I didn’t expect Rasul to be gone. He’s a vet. He was a locker room guy for sure, bring the energy, always talkative, supporting younger guys. He leads in that way and I know his presence is missed.”
Opportunity for Packers’ Carrington Valentine
The guy who is expected to replace Douglas is Carrington Valentine. Like Nixon, he said that the Douglas trade was a big loss for the team.
Valentine, a rookie, said there were lessons to be learned from Douglas.
“Being a pro. The way he approached the game,” Valentine said on Wednesday. “He’s been around, just being around him, he taught me a lot. … I sat next to him every day, I am sad to see him go. I learned a lot from him and I appreciate the things—like, he didn’t have to do that. The opportunity now, I just have to make the most of it.”
Valentine said he is well aware that Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson targeted him repeatedly in Week 7.
“I have had some growing pains,. Have had some ups and some downs but it comes with the game so, turn the tape on, learn from it and you keep going,” he said. “That’s just what’s gonna happen when you’re a rookie. It’s just something I have to live with. Like I said, cut the tape on, learn from it, and then you keep going.”
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Packers DB Left ‘Sick to my Stomach’ by Decision to Trade Rasul Douglas