The Green Bay Packers have been at the center of some pretty significant trades over the last few seasons. Obviously, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams top that list. Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders two off-seasons ago while Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets just this past off-season.
It will be interesting to see if the Packers have a third straight off-season that includes a major trade. However, one of these recent trades has had one analyst further analyzing how impactful the trade really was.
Green Bay Packers Trade Of Davante Adams Has Analysts Diving Deeper
According to Wendell Ferreria of A to Z Sports: If Adams could have that decision back, he might — at least from a professional perspective. But would the Packers want that move back? The team could certainly use Adams’ elite performance during Aaron Rodgers‘ last year as a starter in 2022, but it’s tough to think that the receiver by himself would be enough to transform a non-playoff team into a real Super Bowl contender.
The Packers traded Adams for first- and second-round picks, which general manager Brian Gutekunst utilized to select linebacker Quay Walker and to trade up in the second round to draft wide receiver Christian Watson. It’s easy to say that the Packers lost the trade, because Adams is obviously much more valuable than Walker and Watson combined. But the analysis must go beyond that.
Davante signed a five-year, $140 million contract. Even with a team-friendly structure, it’s at least a three-year, $67.75 million deal ($22.58 million yearly average). Beyond the draft picks, Green Bay would have been forced to part ways with some players that they kept.
Independent cap analyst Ken Ingalls had a good breakdown of the free agents the Packers signed in 2022 with a total cap hit similar to what Adams alone had for the Raiders.
It’s hard to be definitive about this topic. Maybe Davante Adams by himself would be more valuable than Quay Walker, Christian Watson, De’Vondre Campbell, Rasul Douglas, Robert Tonyan, Sammy Watkins, Jarran Reed, Pat O’Donnell, Keisean Nixon, and Allen Lazard.
And that doesn’t count that the Packers kept running back Aaron Jones. They could have been forced to release him at some point to keep the team under the cap.
Maybe with Adams, the 2023 draft would also have been different. They might not take Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, and they would have used those picks to get players from positions of need — needs created by the decision to keep Adams, like off-ball linebacker and cornerback.
