Subscribe
Follow Us
The 2022 NFL trade deadline on November 1 is rapidly approaching. With that, there are some teams that are buyers and some that are sellers. The Green Bay Packers, even at 3-4 on the season, absolutely have to fall into the “buyers” category. There are still 10 games left in the regular season and the right Packers trades with the right Packers trade candidates could quickly turn the team’s fortunes around. Expanding on that, here are the three specific reasons that the Packers must be buyers at the NFL trade deadline.
3. The NFC stinks
In most ordinary seasons, the Packers would probably be sellers at 3-4 after seven games. However, the 2022 NFL season is no ordinary season. Up is down, down is up, the Jets and Giants are good, and Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are bad.
Seriously, though, this is a strange season, especially in the NFC because no team other than the Philadelphia Eagles looks particularly good yet. Only five out of 16 teams in the NFC are above .500, and three of those teams are in the NFC East.
Of those winning teams, the Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks still have major question marks, and nobody would be all that surprised if they hit a serious skid later in the season for various reasons.
As for the Packers’ path specifically, they are three games behind the Vikings in the NFC North with a head-to-head loss to their rival. They do get them one more time, though, which could help them make up ground.
Green Bay also plays the 3-4 Chicago Bears and Wild Card rivals the Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams later in the season to help get them back into the race quickly. A Packers trade at the NFL trade deadline would be a great step toward beating these teams they have to beat to get back in the race in a weak NFC.
2. There are several good Packers trade candidates
The problem with the NFL trade deadline for a team like Green Bay is that there aren’t always solid Packers trade candidates who match up with the organization’s needs. This is true in the sport of pro football in general.
For example, if a team needs a quarterback or an offensive lineman, or a middle linebacker, it can be difficult to trade for them and then get the player up to speed on the offense of defense as quickly as possible.
With certain positions — like wide receiver, running back, pass-rusher, or cornerback — it’s much easier to point them in the right direction and let them do their thing.
The reason a Packers trade deadline move is getting so much buzz right now is that Aaron Rodgers and company desperately need a wideout, and the team could easily incorporate a veteran one quickly and relatively easily.
This drop by Christian Watson hurt so bad to watch
pic.twitter.com/wpNkaV4f8I— Luke Sawhook 🪚🪝 (@lukesawhook) September 11, 2022
In addition to the relative ease of adding a WR schematically, there are also a lot of pass-catchers on the market as the 2022 NFL trade deadline approaches. Packers' trade candidates at the end of October include the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chas Claypool, Houston Texans’ Brandin Cooks, the Carolina Panthers’ DJ Moore, or even Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki.
Any of these players would immediately make Rodgers’ offense function more efficiently as rookie WR Romeo Doubs continues to develop, rookie Christina Watson tries to get healthy, and Allen Lazard and Sammy Watkins deal with their own injuries.
1. Aaron Rodgers is 38
The third and final reason the Packers' trade deadline plans need to put them on the buying side of the ledger is that Aaron Rodgers ain’t gettin’ any younger.
Rodgers won back-to-back MVP Awards the previous two seasons, but when Father Time hits NFL quarterbacks, he doesn’t do it with a barrage of body punches. He comes with the knockout haymaker.
That is what it’s looking like for Rodgers right now. Sure, he has a young WR corps, but he’s also holding the ball too long and missing open throws he never missed in the past. Just like Tom Brady on the opposite side of the conference, it may have gotten late early for Rodgers, as Yogi Berra liked to say.
Before you say that should make the Packers buyers at the trade deadline, though, consider this. Just because Rodgers is almost cooked doesn’t mean he can’t make the playoffs or even win a Super Bowl.
Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, and Peyton Manning all made the playoffs in their final season after they were physically done as top-tier NFL QBs. Manning even won a Super Bowl with the right talent around him.
It may cause a few problems in terms of team-building down the line, but right now, the entire focus of the Packers front office should be on sending Rodgers out in style at the end of the 2022 season by making a deadline deal.
