Packers Training Camp Trade Candidates

Packers Training Camp Trade Candidates

[Music] what’s up friends happy Tuesday welcome in an all new episode of the pack a day podcast I’m your host Andy Herman you can follow me on Twitter at Andy Herman NFL we are closing in on the 4th of July we are closing in on Packers training camp we are less than three weeks away from that very first practice I can feel it I can taste it I cannot wait already but before we get there we’ve got still a ton of things to discuss and today what we’re going to be going over are possible training camp trade candidates now let me be fully transparent with you right off the bat we’re not doing some clickbait stuff here all right if you’re thinking that this is going to be where we talk about Christian Watson for Jonathan Taylor or those type of trades or some big Brandon iuk trade this is not the place nor the time nor the team to be discussing those sort of things those are unrealistic waste of time for all of us the odds that anything like that actually happens are slim to none so we can do a fantasy episode of talking about it and quite frankly it probably does a little bit better numbers right if I talk about if my title for today’s episode was you know what could Green Bay get for Christian Watson in a trade it’s probably going to do some numbers even if it’s you know stupid numbers and even if everyone’s like clickbait or whatever I would rather talk about realistic stuff every single freaking time and when we talk about the Packers potentially trading players around training camp usually at the end of training camp they have made some trades in the past that have helped them gather additional draft capital or maybe Do a player-for-player Swap and this has been something that has been prevalent in the Brian gakin era and this is something that he has been very very good at listen if you are going to release a player and instead you can actually get a future sixth or seventh round pick for those type of players my goodness can that help you listen there’s a reason why Brian gakin has had some success drafting in the seventh rounds is because in a lot of these drafts he’s had three or four draft picks in the seventh round you know it makes it easier to hit on guys like Carrington Valentine and Rasheed Walker when you’re making multiple selections on that you know at seventh round that late in the draft so if you can trade away some guys that are Fringe roster players and get that future draft Capital it can seriously pay dividends down the road and we have seen this Brian gakin was able to get a seventh round pick for Co van lanan like that was a big trade relatively at the time because it ultimately gets you a future draft pick for a guy they were probably going to release to try to get back on the practice squad and clearly if a team was willing to give up draft capital for him they were going to claim him on waivers and they were going to lose him anyway Josh Jackson was traded for Isaac yam they didn’t get any future draft Capital but they got a player that ended up being a core special teamer for them in that season did not play very well at corner interestingly enough Isaac yadam actually had a really good season last year that trade if they would have held on to yam may have actually been something where he could have been usable as a corner he certainly was in New Orleans a season ago but I digress they still did a player-for-player swap Josh Jackson ends up out of the league Isaac yam ends up being a player like I said that played well for the Saints a week or a season excuse me and played special teams for them almost that entire season so you’re looking for mle you know even if you can take a a player and grab a small incremental upgrade these are the things that you’re trying to do and again yadam ended up not really turning out but he turned out better than Josh Jackson did we’ll just put it that way he was able to get a seventh round pick for Kadar hman he was able to get a sixth round pick for Reggie Gilbert a seventh round pick swap for Justin McCrae a sixth round pick for Trevor Davis and a sixth round pick for Brett Hunley that is what three sths and three sixth round picks in addition to their what they already had for guys that they were almost assuredly going to be releasing off of the roster anyway and those are the type of deals that you make where you know listen you you it’s like the YouTube you know people who start with a you know string and they trade the string for something a little bit bigger and then then they trade that for something to bigger and then they go to a pawn shop and trade it for two other things all of a sudden they turned a string into like a car you know we’ve all seen these ridiculous videos but that’s what Brian gin is trying to do like right now that player that you’re about to release May look like he’s a player on the scrap Heap and you can just release him and somebody else may or may not pick him up but if you can turn that into a seventh round pick and then that seventh round pick into Rasheed Walker and he ends up becoming a starting left tackle and all of a sudden you’ve got a big- time player that um you know ended up out of nowhere for a player that you were just going to release anyway those things can have a huge impact on your team so what I want to look at today is what players are on this roster right now that could have some potential trade value similar to a Kadar hman or a k van Lannon and what could they potentially get in return and what situations would have to arrive you know arise I should say for the Packers to actually trade some of these players and I’ll say it one more time if you’re looking for a Christian Watson or some big name player on this list I’m sorry that is not going to happen but we do have 10 players that I think this ultimately could happen to where Brian gakin tries to get something for nothing and grab a late round pick in return or maybe a player for player swap that could help this team even if it’s ever so incrementally let’s start at quarterback Jordan Sean Clifford uh Sean Clifford is the I think the most obvious potential scenario here all right Jordan love is clearly going to be your one they drafted Sean Clifford in the fifth round a season ago and then this year they go out and draft a rookie in the seventh round and he kind of looked pretty darn good in OTAs in mini camps and that is Michael Pratt now as Matt lefur mentioned his head is swimming and he’s it’s like he’s drinking through a fire hose Michael Pratt’s got a long way to go and if he wants to win that number two job he’s going to have to come back to training camp ready to go fully digesting that Playbook and knowing exactly what to do that is a lot to ask for a rookie quarterback but if you end up in a situation where Michael Pratt does take a big step already and he does have a great feel for the Playbook and he goes out and performs well in training camp and in preseason so much so that he becomes the number two quarterback you could absolutely see a world in which maybe the Packers don’t want to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster and if Michael Pratt does in fact win that number two and Sean Clifford has a decent to solid preseason you could end up in a situation where if you release Sean Clifford you feel like you may not get him back on the practice squad or you may just don’t you may not want a scenario in which you keep three quarterbacks when you may need to keep extra wide receivers or running backs or tight ends offensive lineman we could go on and on there are multiple position groups on this team where you might want to keep an extra player and that may not be conducive to keeping three quarterbacks on the team so if Michael Pratt wins that spot and you don’t want to keep three QBs you don’t think Sean Clifford’s going to be able to get back on the practice squad you call around and I do believe and some people might disagree with me on this I think if he has a solid to good preseason I do believe he would have trade value now you’re probably trading you know for you know you’re losing Roi on it right I don’t think you’re getting a fifth round pick back for Sean Clifford which is what you spent on him but I bet you could get at worst a conditional seventh round pick or May just a clear sixth or seventh round pick for him especially if he had a good preseason listen quarterbacks are hard to find and if anyone even believes that he could be a developmental guy or a a solid backup QB some team will be willing to throw a sixth or seventh round pick at him just like a team was willing to spend a six round pick to trade for Brett Hunley so I don’t think that’s out of the realm of possibility at all and while I believe that Sean Clifford is probably the more likely of the two to win the backup quarterback spot which would mean they’re not trading them and while I believe that even if Michael Pratt does win the number two there’s a really good chance that they just do keep three quarterbacks I do think there is the possibility that Sean Clifford could be used as trade bait for one of those late seventh round picks sixth round picks again if you can get something back like that you absolutely take it you let Michael Pratt be the two and then you go hunting for a new practice squad quarterback that you can bring in and start developing and he can be the backup to the backup and in break in case of emergency sort of situation and and I think you could easily find guys like that that are worth developing um that you know again you you don’t have to subject to waivers because you can immediately put them on the practice squad so I think that is within the realm of possibility all let’s talk about another one this one’s at running back that’s AJ Dylan now I know I’ve seen some of the comments Andy you are just a AJ Dylan hater I promise you I am not who doesn’t like the mayor of dor County he is the freaking mayor of dor County he’s been great in the community he has been a you know guy that has definitely carried the G he’s he’s AJ Dylan he’s like I said the mayor like everyone loves AJ all right but how many you know times I have to go over this to some extent you have to view these things from a GM’s point of view it’s not a fan point of view it’s not our favorite players it’s not anything like that it’s not the guy that is always our our favorite out in the community or somebody that is the mayor of dor County this is a GM’s point of view on how you view a player like AJ Dylan I remember a story from Russell Westbrook where he said he never wanted to take a league minimum you know when he was getting released from teams or bought out from teams he’s like he was he refused to take a league minimum because once you’re a league minimum guy you stay a league minimum guy more often than not and that just is your new reality he never wanted to do that and so far I believe and uh maybe NBA Twitter or NBA viewers can correct me if I’m wrong here I don’t believe he has taken a vet minimum as of yet in the NBA so there is this idea that sometimes when you start getting to that point there is a different view of you and AJ Dylan although he didn’t exactly take the vet minimum he will basically get the vet minimum from a salary cap standpoint Green Bay ends up paying a little bit more based on that special contract for you know being a player who’s played four years with a team and you can basically double his salary while only having to pay half of it against the salary cap but here’s the bigger thing the the guaranteed money is what you want to look at here and under 200,000 in guaranteed money for AJ Dylan that is you know Pennies on the open market when you are a free agent unrestricted you unrestricted free agent running back and I get running back is not this Uber high paid position totally understand it this is a a running back in his Prime with his first opportunity to see free agency and he got nothing now I do believe that this is a player that wanted to stay in Green Bay and probably took a little bit less to stay in Green Bay I I totally believe that I really do but I don’t think it was significantly less I I I don’t think that he was getting some twoyear $10 million offer from some team he’s like no I want to stay with Green Bay for 2 million I I just don’t see it that way and I’ve talked about this time and time again how you have to view this from a GM point of view is you’re probably keeping three running backs at most right you’re we have seen Green Bay go with two and then add guys to the practice squad but you’re probably keeping three unlikely that you keep four and two of those spots are 100% taken in Marshon Lloyd and in Josh Jacobs those two are not going anywhere they will unless they’re hurt and on IR they will be on the 53 man roster so that leaves one running back spot and this is where you start doing the GM math and you start looking at Players like Emanuel Wilson or Jarvan Howard or any of these guys make it even close to AJ Dylan they are cheaper they are younger and they are under team control for longer and that is why I say that there is at least a world a possibility in which if and I’ve said this over and over it they Eman it’s up to Emanuel Wilson or Jarvan Howard to make it close which means they had a really good training camp in preseason and probably AJ Dylan did not but if there’s anywhere near close then you keep the younger player the cheaper player the player that has more years of Team control every single time that is going to pay off for you far more often than not now as I’ve said before as well I expect AJ Dylan to be on the 53 man roster I expect him to even have a shot at the number two depending on what Marshon Lloyd can do from a pass Pro standpoint and if he can hang on to the football but if you you get to that point where Emanuel Wilson does have a great camp and you do think that Emanuel Wilson is a worthy number three running back and you have your other two spots already spoken for and with you know Josh Jacobs Martian Lloyd and Emanuel Wilson and that’s the three you want to go forward with well then what do you do you call around the league and I guarantee you that you know there I do believe like I said there was interest in AJ Dylan for probably a little bit more than what Green Bay paid him so you call around you see if some team’s willing to trade sixth or seventh round pick or a conditional pick for AJ Dylan you pick up that draft pick and here’s the other thing too and why this becomes more of a discussion are you going to be able to trade Emanuel Wilson for anything probably not or Jarvan Howard probably not but if one of those guys looks good you keep them and then you do get something in return for AJ Dylan that’s another thing it could be cheaper you know it could be younger it could be more cost effective and if you keep Wilson instead of Dylan you might actually gain a draft pick back in return by trading Dylan away which you probably wouldn’t get for Wilson so that’s the scenario that has to play out and I’ll say it one more time I expect AJ Dylan on this roster but these are the sort of decisions that seem to always catch people off guard of like oh my goodness they’re trading AJ Dylan for a seventh round pick what is going on here but when you’ve got a situation where the exactly what we talked about could play out and if it plays out that way then yes you call around and you see if you can get something and the likelihood that you would get anything significant in return is is nil because he didn’t get anything on the open market in free agency so you’re hoping you get a sixth or seventh round pick in return and I think you would quite frankly so that’s another way that this could go about and this could happen but again it is Paramount that probably Emanuel Wilson’s the guy we’re talking about here who spent the entire last season on the 53 man roster if they still think highly of him then that’s how this would go down and you try to get whatever you can for Dylan in in turn specifically probably a late round pick all right two wide receivers on this list Grant tuos and samor tur now both of these players are probably going to have to have eye openening training camps and pre or I should say eye openening preseason to some extent I I would find it pretty hard to believe that you would call around right now and any team’s willing to give up a seventh round pick for some more A2 Ray or Grant to Bose maybe maybe you could get a conditional pick meaning we will trade a future seventh round pick for samor Tay or we will trade a future seventh round pick for Grant Duos if they make the 53 man roster if they don’t if we release them they you don’t get anything in return and for Green Bay right now that’s just not worth it because right now you’ll take the extra depth you’ll take you know the opportunity to see if they progress in any significant way so right now that’s not worth it but if you do get to maybe a week or two before you know cut down down time and maybe some moreu Grant du Bose had a really good preseason game and you recognize we’re not going to be able to keep all these guys you call around you see if you’re able to get anything in return I don’t believe any of their other wide receivers are really going to be on the market Romeo dobs Christian Watson certainly not Davian Wicks Jaden Reed Bo Melton even Malik Keith I think those guys are just going to make the team but you’re not going to be able to keep all of them you’re probably not going to keep seven or eight wide receivers so if you do get to that point you do call around and I again I understand the the idea here of like who’s going to trade for samor tur or who’s going to trade for Grant Duos but if they have a couple big preseason games get on maybe some people’s radar absolutely and I will fire back at you and I’ll say who’s going to trade for Cole van Lannon or Kadar hman or Reggie Gilbert or Justin McCrae or Trevor Davis or Brett Hunley these are not exactly players that were tearing it up in Green Bay when Brian gakin was able to get something in return so if t or Duos have a couple big weeks in preseason make a name for themselves and you know you’re not going to be able to keep them on the roster anyway some team throws a seventh round pick or even a conditional seventh round pick at you by all means take it maybe it can turn into something in the future defensive lineman this is a tougher one that would be Colby wooden this is a tough sort of trail to navigate I don’t think it’s impossible though really what would need to happen is everyone stays healthy along the defensive line and at Edge rusher and you have two players in particular in all likelihood that that step up and those two players would have to be Jonathan Ford and Bretton Cox and we’ve already seen it from Bretton Cox all right you you’re probably going to keep nine to 10 total defensive linemen meaning Edge rushers and defensive tackles and the beautiful thing about Colby wooden is that he’s got now versatility he can play some defensive end and he can play defensive tackle but if you get to the end of training camp and you feel like you’ve got ran Gary Preston Smith uh LVN and um Kings L nebari and Bretton Cox as defensive ends that you’re going to keep all five of them all right well then you feel good there and you move to defensive tackle if you feel like Kenny Clark and Carl Brooks and uh excuse me and uh TJ Slayton and Devonte Wyatt sorry about that if you feel all four of those guys are going to make the team clearly and maybe Jonathan Ford has a big preseason that’s not a huge leap to make if you remember a year ago he made the initial 53 now they eventually released him and did some roster maneuvering and he went back on the practice squad but he did make the initial 53 last year which means he was at least close and in the conversation to being one of the final one or two guys that that were going to make the team so if Jonathan Ford and Brenton Cox go out and play really really well and it just just kind of leaves kobby wooden in no man’s land and in particular this is kind of where we get to that AJ Dylan conversation again if you cut Jonathan Ford you might lose him and you certainly don’t get anything in return you’re not going to get anything in trade for him you’re probably not going to get anything in trade for Bretton Cox but a fourth round pick from a season ago in Colby wooden could you get maybe a sixth round pick for him in return I think so maybe even a fifth so that would have to be the scenario that would play out now if he was playing good enough and well enough where you could get something in return I think you just find a way to make the roster math to keep all the guys you can never have enough defensive lineman you can never have enough versatile defensive lineman like kobby wooden is that’s a that’s a tough path to navigate but again if you do have 10 guys you feel really good about and kobby wooden is right in there with Jonathan Ford and with uh Brenton Cox well then you trade the guy that you can get something in return for you keep your other 10 and you feel really good still about the depth that you have at that position Corner this will be the biggest name that we talk talk about this will have to be Eric Stokes what if kesan Nixon wins a slot Jer Alexander is healthy Carrington Valentine’s healthy Stokes has some issues in preseason doesn’t look quite himself Cory Balentine looks good um you know and and maybe you get a Kalin King that looks good and you’ve got you know and and then you want to maybe keep Robert relle as like a six corners SL special teams guy you’ve got six corners there on the roster and and again sto FKS maybe just didn’t perform the way that you were hoping he was going to well he’s the one that you can save a couple million dollars on by trading him away and these are one of those deals like a Josh Jackson for Isaac yam where maybe you call around and say hey can we get a likeforlike player maybe a first or second round pick for some other team that is also struggling that maybe you liked coming out of the draft and maybe Eric Stokes needs needs a change of scenery and to go to some other team and some other system and maybe whatever first or second round pick that wasn’t working out for that team needs a new change of scenery and a new system in Green Bay and you make a like for likee swap maybe it’s that corner maybe it’s a different position altogether but I could easily see something like that happening if Stokes doesn’t live up to expectations in preseason and training camp do I expect it no do I think he’s probably more likely to be the starter opposite jier yes I do but I do think that there’s enough savings there where if it doesn’t go right and Carrington Valentine just wins that starting Corner Spot that at least you think about it and have that conversation you’ve got two safeties that are on the list you’ve got Anthony Johnson Jr and Zan Anderson and this is just a depth thing right you’ve got xaver McKenna you’ve got Javon Bullard you’ve got katano ladapo and you’ve got Evan Williams those four are locks and then you still have one of these two probably if you want as your fifth Anthony Johnson Jr or zann Anderson and you still have Benny sap who was on the 53 man roster last year as well as a special teams guy so you could easily get to the the point where you’re willing to move on from a couple of these players and you’re going to have to right you’re not going to keep seven safeties and if it gets to the point where you recognize that you know four of the guys are uncuttable because you just drafted three of them and xaver mckin is not going anywhere I you’re G to have to move on from Zan Anderson or Anthony Johnson Jr or Benny sap and probably maybe even two of them and again who might have trade value here Anthony Johnson Jr a seventh round pick from a season ago he could I think you might be able to get a seventh round pick for him and then Zay Anderson you know again if he has a decent preseason this is somebody who had a um you a season last year was a course special teamer Green Bay claimed him off waivers was on the 53 all last year I know he had that three interception day at at you know OTAs I don’t think anyone’s probably trading for him based off of that but overall I think he could be a player that again maybe some team needs some special teams help needs some safety depth and gives up a conditional seventh for a Zayn Anderson I don’t think that’s unheard of so those would be two players I think more likely Anthony Johnson Jr some team liked them in the draft just wasn’t able to pick them up last year maybe liked what they saw on tape in Green Bay maybe some good preseason tape out there and some teams willing to give up something for him so maybe you take it maybe go with a Benny Sapp or a Zayn Anderson as your backup or if you want to keep Anthony Johnson Jr then you shop Zayn Anderson around and the last two are Specialists Greg Joseph and Matt Orek now now is this again super likely no but what can happen is it teams get desperate at these positions and if Peter Bowen makes it as the Packers Long Snapper and some other team is just having massive issues with long snapping where do teams ultimately go they usually go to a Long Snapper that’s been in the league and they maybe have a little bit more trust in so even if oric struggles a little bit the fact that he’s long snapped in the league for a while now you know for the Rams and the Packers you might end up with a team willing to give up a a few your late seventh round pick and that might you might have to wait a couple years it’s it might be like literally the the least possible you can get a seventh round pick two years down the road but if some team needs a Long Snapper and Orek becomes available yeah I could see that happening same thing at kicker like Greg Joseph is an experienced kicker in the league and what if Greg Joseph and Andre Carlson both go out and have massive preseason they make every single kick they look great and both of them are capable of making 53s I guarantee you some team is going to panic about their kicker and they’re going to try to go in a different direction and if Joseph looks great in preseason maybe you can pick up a future seventh for him think that’s within the realm of possibility as well and you’re probably more likely to keep Anders Carlson in that situation so those are the guys I do think that these are all scenarios that could come uh into play do I expect all of them no do I expect maybe one or two I expect maybe maybe not but it wouldn’t shock me if Brian gakin shopped some of these guys and maybe did pick up another one of those six or seven seventh round picks just like he did in the past for some of his Fringe roster guys that he was probably going to release anyway is it the sexiest group of names in the world no but again neither were Co van lanon or Kadar Hallman Trevor Davis Justin McCrae Reggie Gilbert or Brett Hunley sometimes teams get desperate for some depth at positions and a guy that had a good preseason or has played some in the past gets moved to the top of their list and you’re lucky enough to pick up a future asset for it and I guarantee you Brian gakin will be making those phone calls trying to get that future asset in return all right one last thing we have to talk about really quick and that’s what could Green Bay want in return and we talked about maybe some late round draft picks could be what Green Bay just ultimately looks for but there could be some other things they could be looking for a kicker what if Joseph and Carlson and the whole Trio of kickers just struggle and they don’t find their guy and somewhere else there’s a group of kickers that are performing well they could look to try to get maybe one of those kickers in return and maybe you do trade a player like an Anthony Johnson Jr or Colby wooden or you know who knows for a kicker in return You could also look to have to fill in for injured players I guarantee you there’s going to be probably a couple players that get hurt in training camp and aren’t ready to go for week one there are a couple positions that Green Bay is a little bit thin at and if they are they could be looking for players in return that would fill some of those positions that need to be filled due to injury and last but not least it could just be a value thing it could be something where they valued a player coming out of the draft and they feel like some team is selling low on them and they want to take a swing and they think that they can be the team that develops that player like that will happen from time to time around the league as well so if they see a seventh round pick or a sixth round pick for a guy they’re going to cut anyway or maybe they need a kicker or a player to fill in for an injury or just a value add to the team again it’s those incremental increases it’s not always going to be trading for Jonathan Taylor it might just be a a random trade that finds a way down the road to help you and maybe it’s just a future draft pick that turns into a All Pro wide receiver you just never know so these type of deals again maybe not the sexiest Topic in the world but it is something that I guarantee you Brian goodkin will be active in doing because he has been in the past and it has paid dividends even if it’s on the margins but that’s what the best GMS do they look for every small possible way to make their team better even if it is on the margins cuz again you don’t know when maybe you might get Rasheed Walker or a Donald Driver or a Mark toer or a Carrington Valentine or some Hidden Gem in the seventh round that you received in the first place by jettisoning a guy that you were going to cut and wasn’t going to make the team anyway and now you’ve got that additional asset that is going to do it for me today thank you as always for joining me I’ll be right back here tomorrow with an all new episode shout out to our Hall of Fame and All Pro members mosted Minnesotan PJ wi John wild sh BR dad Brandon Peta Jennifer Wright boom handle Donald Lee Lor Lord baby QB David mclust Donald Decker Dan Miller Alex hang Arnaldo espanosa Dan gford and Peter raka tomorrow you will see me again you guys are the absolute best but until next time and as always go Paco

Over the years, Brian Gutekunst has done a phenomenal job finding ways to trade fringe roster players for useful assets. On today’s show, Andy takes a look at which players could be traded at the end of training camp for something of value in return. Don’t miss it!

#Packers #GreenBayPackers #nfl

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