On Monday, the Los Angeles Rams pulled off a massive trade to acquire Von Miller from the Denver Broncos. He’ll join forces with All-Pros Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey on what is an already fairly stout defensive unit. It’s the type of move that will raise antennae across the ranks of the top contenders in the NFC. However, don’t expect the Green Bay Packers to pull off any deal remotely similar to this.
The Packers and Rams have both solidified themselves as legitimate contenders to win the conference this year. But both have done so with different philosophies.
LA isn’t afraid to wheel and deal, and they clearly don’t give a rip about draft picks. They yielded several future draft picks, including first-rounders in 2022 and 2023, in the Matthew Stafford trade this offseason. In the Miller trade on Monday, they sent away their second- and third-round picks in 2022. Keep in mind that the cost of doing business included two future first-round picks when they acquired Ramsey last year. The Rams continually push the button to focus on the now while worrying about the future at a later time.
Green Bay covets their draft picks as much as any organization in football. They sent the Houston Texans a 2022 sixth-round selection when they traded for Randall Cobb this offseason, and it probably felt like pulling teeth for Houston. For better or worse, the Packers have typically taken the route of trusting who they have on their roster instead of making splash moves in-season.
They have lightened up on this policy quite a bit over the last two years. Last year, in light of injuries at key positions, the Packers brought in both Tavon Austin and Damon “Snacks” Harrison for their eventual push to the NFC Championship game. These aren’t complete needle-movers, and neither produced any significant contributions to Green Bay throughout the postseason. But even those two smaller-scale moves were deals the Packers wouldn’t have made in the past.
This season they have been even more aggressive in keeping things balanced after a rash of injuries. Green Bay brought in Whitney Mercilus after he was cut by the Houston Texans. They also signed Jaylon Smith after the Dallas Cowboys released him. Week 8 hero Rasul Douglas was on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad for most of the season before Brian Gutekunst scooped him up. These moves have all been largely praised by the Packers faithful, and rightfully so. Still, to expect any seismic change is unrealistic.
One reason is the cap space for the rest of the year. Green Bay doesn’t have a lot of it, per Ken Ingalls, who keeps tabs on a daily basis.
There is still reason to hold out hope that the Packers land a big fish like Miller. In that particular trade, Adam Schefter reported that the Broncos are eating most of the salary for the rest of the year. LA is only in line to pay $700,000.
That kind of cap relief provides the only avenue in which the Packers could go big game hunting. But it would require sweetening the pot with more draft capital, which Green Bay would likely shy away from. That doesn’t mean the Packers aren’t in it to win it this year. In fact, the in-season pickups already made by Gutekunst and Co. indicate that Green Bay is willing to focus on the present more than ever with Aaron Rodgers‘ future still foggy at best.
It’s possible the Packers dip their toes into the trade deadline waters. One name that continues to pop up is New York Giants tight end Evan Engram. With Robert Tonyan done for the year after tearing his ACL against the Cardinals, Green Bay’s front office has to evaluate what they have at the position and decide how they want to game plan with it moving forward. One route is simply unleashing 2020 third-round pick Josiah Deguara. Another could be a trade for someone like Engram. While a trade for Engram would likely please many in the land of cheese, it still isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with what the Rams did on Monday in acquiring Miller. And guess what? That’s just fine.
Green Bay has already been way more proactive this year in responding to injuries instead of going with their typical “next man up” mentality. Just because it’s unlikely that they land a player of Miller’s stature at the deadline doesn’t mean this front office isn’t committed to winning the whole thing this year. In fact, quite the opposite. With or without a trade at the deadline, Green Bay has as good a shot as any to win the NFC and advance to the Super Bowl this season. A lot of hope will be put into potential returns of Jaire Alexander and Za’Darius Smith. David Bakhtiari is expected back soon, as is Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The former hasn’t seen the field since tearing his ACL last season. Getting players of that caliber back is as good as trading for a superstar.
The Rams will be praised for their commitment to a win-now mindset after acquiring Miller. What nobody will bring up is that this team has only fifth-round and seventh-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s fine to go for broke now, but if the Rams come up short, that praise will curdle into criticism later. The Packers can try and tight-rope-walk that line with the deadline approaching, and they’ll very likely do so without trading for a huge name.
