Trade deadline season is in full swing. The Carolina Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for four draft picks, and a series of other rumors are rippling around NFL front offices. One of them connects the Green Bay Packers to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool, who is in his third NFL season.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “a few general managers I’ve spoken to are certain Green Bay is looking for potential receiver help on the trade market. One player who makes sense is Pittsburgh’s Chase Claypool, who multiple execs believe was available in the preseason, though at a hefty price.”
But does it make sense for the Packers? There are, as usual, pros and cons.
Moment of the team
The Packers must do an internal evaluation if they want to do a big deadline trade. The team is 3-3, so the path moving forward is unclear. If general manager Brian Gutekunst thinks the roster is capable of turning it around and being competitive in the NFC, there is a case to rationalize such an investment.
However, if Gutekunst understands the team isn’t worth the investment of future capital, it would make more sense to keep their picks. They could even be sellers at the deadline in two weeks.
Gutekunst hasn’t been a big fan of trading future draft capital in general. Since he became the general manager in 2018, he’s never traded future picks higher than a sixth-rounder. He traded his sixth-round pick twice, once for Randall Cobb, and he did a late-round swap for punter Corey Bojorquez.
Nevertheless, Gutekunst has already shown a willingness to make moves if the price is right. Two years ago, the Packers offered a fourth-round pick to the Houston Texans for wide receiver Will Fuller. However, the Texans wanted a second-rounder, so the deal never materialized.
Value of the player short- and long-term
The second and maybe most important factor to determine if the Packers should pull the trigger is their own evaluation of Claypool as a player. By the time of the draft in 2020, there were rumors that Gutekunst liked him. ESPN’s Mel Kiper even mocked Claypool to Green Bay in the first round in one of his projections.
The Packers might have been comfortable taking Claypool at the end of the second round. However, the Steelers took him 13 picks earlier, so the Packers ended up selecting running back A.J. Dillon.
Claypool has the physical profile that Gutekunst tends to value for his players. His Relative Athletic Score, for instance, is similar to Christian Watson’s.
The third-year receiver had a stellar rookie season, with 889 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns. In 2021, the touchdown number plummeted to just two, but his yardage increased to 956, partially because his rushing yards went from 16 to 96. That also shows his versatility.
To start this season, Claypool hadn’t been producing. He hasn’t had a game with more than 35 receiving yards in the first four weeks. In the last two games, however, he accumulated 16 targets, 12 receptions, 146 yards, and a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Claypool’s contract is also an important consideration. If the Packers acquire him right at the deadline, they would absorb $672,000 in salary for 2022. The wide receiver would still be under contract for 2023 for $1.5 million. Those are relatively low numbers for a good receiver, but Green Bay would have to consider the desire to make an extension later on to justify the use of draft resources.
Verdict
Maybe the Packers aren’t ready to win this year, and Claypool isn’t so good that the team will go to the Super Bowl because of him. Nevertheless, he is a young, productive, and talented player who could help the Packers long-term. A core with Claypool, Christian Watson, and Romeo Doubs could secure the Packers’ receiving group for the foreseeable future.
The cost is always the main determination here. Considering Claypool was a second-round pick but has just a year and a half left on his contract, perhaps the Packers could strike a deal sending a third-round pick to Pittsburgh. In this case, the trade is worth it.
If the Steelers want much more than that, the price might be prohibitive — especially because it’s not clear how good this Packers team is, so a higher pick may end up being particularly costly.
