The Jets may give the Packers a first-round pick, without giving up any future first-round picks
The Jets may give the Packers a first-round pick, without giving up any future first-round picks
Good morning!
Still no deal for the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, but plenty of moves happening around the NFL that affect the 2023 team and beyond. Jason is off today, so you’re stuck with a solo newsletter where we explore some Rodgers, some free agency, and look ahead to the NFL draft.
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With the Packers and Jets at loggerheads over an Aaron Rodgers trade, what could provide the key to push negotiations over the edge?
Peter Bukowski: A first-round pick. No, not the 2023 Jets first; their 2022 first, or at least one of them. They had three. ESPN’s Rich Cimini references Jermaine Johnson II as a possible player heading back to the Packers in a trade for Aaron Rodgers after previous reports Jets players would be involved.
Over the weekend, Tom Silverstein quoted an NFL executive as saying the Packers used the Russell Wilson trade as the framework for any potential Rodgers deal, including both picks and players.
One league source told The Leap early in trade negotiations Jermaine Johnson’s name came up in discussions but he may not have been part of the more recent iterations of the trade. At least until Rodgers went on Pat McAfee’s YouTube show and proclaimed to the world he wanted to play for the Jets. Multiple sources cited by Silverstein said they believed that appearance ramped up the price of the trade, as Jason wrote about on Friday.
But if the Packers insist on a first-round pick (the Seahawks got Denver’s in the Wilson trade), the Jets may be able to use JJII as a way to say, “Look, we won’t give you 13, but we will give you the guy we just took with the 26th overall pick.”
Johnson’s recent draft status complicates the trade because of the guaranteed money it would accelerate onto New York’s balance sheet, but putting Corey Davis in the trade would fully account for that money with room to spare. Davis only remains on the Jets roster so he can be in this deal. Moving on from him would save the Jets nearly $10 million on the cap space in 2023.
Something like Jermaine Johnson II, No. 43, and a 2024 conditional pick could be the compromise that makes both teams can live with.
As the first wave of free agency comes to a close, who are the realistic options for the Green Bay Packers given their current salary cap constraints?
PB: There are two names that come to mind here. The most straightforward answer is John Johnson III, a safety recently cut by the Cleveland Browns. He played for Joe Barry and the Rams where he put together an impressive resume as a do-it-all defender. He never lived up to that watermark in Cleveland, so he finds himself looking for work now.
Green Bay has an obvious need at safety and Johnson wouldn’t count against the Packers comp picks for next season, a feature they’re currently enjoying thanks in part to Rodgers getting guys like Allen Lazard the bag.
Speaking of quarterbacks and pass catchers, Dalton Schultz remains on the market. After getting tagged last offseason by the Cowboys, Schultz disappointed in Dallas in 2022 in a season of disappointments. Still, if his price has come off that tag number, he could make sense in Green Bay on a prove-it deal in a tight end room that currently only boasts Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis with Robert Tonyan heading to Chicago.
If he turns into a value contract, he’s a no-brainer veteran at a position of need who would offer versatility and playmaking in addition to offering an example to the inevitable rookie they take in a terrific tight end class.
How would the above trade affect the Packers plans in the draft?
PB: Most of the mock drafts featuring Aaron Rodgers trades have included the 13th pick, but let’s operate under the assumptions in our top example. Green Bay instead gets 43—still an extra top-50 pick and Johnson—plus the future pick that for the moment doesn’t matter for this exercise.
Snagging Johnson fills a key gap at a luxury position. A top-15 pick may be been a tempting situation for the Packers front office to attack the pass rush to try to strike gold again the way they did with Rashan Gary. Let him sit behind the starters, work with Kingsley Enagbare, and in Year 2 start to flourish. Johnson would give them that guy.
The Packers showed considerable interest in top tight end prospects at the combine and I fully expect them to attack that position early on in the draft. With Dalton Kincaid hurt and Michael Mayer testing well but not great, any of these guys at 15 would seem to be risky. Instead, with a pair of top-50 pics, the Packers could snag a Day 2 tight end with one of two chances to maximize value at that spot.
In this case, they find three outstanding athletes at key positions and while pass-rusher isn’t as big a need with Johnson in the fold, taking a shot at Adebawore, who weighs 280 pounds and could play some 5T or 3T as a pass rusher, fits with the Gutekunst model of banking on athletes.
Oh, in addition to all the superlative grades PFF gave me for my picks, taking a receiver for the first time since before Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback would just be an A+ troll.