With two first-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, it’s likely that the Green Bay Packers will attempt to make a deal.
Take a look back over the last two decades to examine some of the franchise’s draft-day trades. Keep in mind that judging transactions isn’t as simple as looking at the players involved; agreements are frequently done to go ahead of another, invisible team competing for the same talent. Furthermore (and presumably plainly), just because a player was selected in a slot previously owned by the Packers does not guarantee that Green Bay would have taken that player if the transaction had not occurred.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get some judging done.
Because so much emphasis had been placed on the team’s need for a wide receiver, when the Packers made early picks to address other positions, Titletown was filled with a fair dose of draft-day anxiety. However, in the third round, the Packers traded up seven spots to obtain the pass-catcher from Clemson, giving up a fourth-round pick.
This one will be remembered for years to come, regardless of what happens next. The Packers not only drafted a quarterback in the first round with Aaron Rodgers still behind the wheel, but they also traded up to snag the Utah State alum. Love is still the Packers’ backup quarterback, but Rodgers has won back-to-back MVP awards and will be the starter for the foreseeable future. Jalen Hurts, the next quarterback selected, dropped to No. 53 and became the Eagles’ starter at the end of his rookie season.
Green Bay had a productive first round in 2019, trading up for its second of two picks, adding Maryland safety Savage to Rashan Gary’s selection. Both players made regular starts in 2021.
The Packers moved down and then back up to get Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander, who has now become a league star, so all the machinations were worthwhile.
The first is a deal that will go down in Packers history, not because the Browns acquired a productive player in Njoku, but because of the player selected next. T.J. Watt, a Wisconsin pass rusher, has been a perennial defensive player of the year candidate in Pittsburgh. He was the object of many Packers fans’ desires in the late first round, but Green Bay lost out on Watt with the trade back. Ryan Ramczyk, a former Badgers offensive lineman who became an all-pro tackle in New Orleans, also left in the interim. King became a starter, although he never matched Watt’s performance.
Harris had an excellent NFL career, playing mostly with the Jets and making second-team all-pro in 2009 en route to more than 1,100 NFL tackles, 37 sacks and 11 forced fumbles. You’d have to think Green Bay would do the deal again, however, knowing it would get a key piece in the Super Bowl run in Jackson and, to a lesser extent, Hall. Bishop, who would also become a huge part of the Super Bowl puzzle, was drafted after the Packers traded back and Pittsburgh selected a punter.
The Packers actually had three straight picks in this draft, using No. 193 on Mason Crosby.
This is a draft where the Packers reportedly did not take Cleveland up on an offer to trade a first round pick, with the opportunity to pick up another first-rounder in the 2008 draft. Instead, the Packers kept their pick and infamously selected Justin Harrell, a player with injury concerns who couldn’t stay healthy in the NFL.
