Report: Packers tabbed as a trade-down candidate in 1st round
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Houston Texans are interested in trading down from the 12th overall pick — the slot one choice ahead of the Green Bay Packers in the first round — as they’ve struggled to move off of the second overall pick in the 2023 draft. It doesn’t appear that the Texans are the only sellers in the top half of the draft, though.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Philadelphia Eagles (who own the 10th pick in the draft) and the Packers have both floated the idea of moving back in the draft. Here’s what he had to say about Green Bay, specifically:
Throw the Packers into the pile of teams that would consider moving back tomorrow night, after the Aaron Rodgers trade bumped them up a couple of spots to No. 13. I’ve heard Green Bay linked to both of the top tight ends in the class—Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and Utah’s Dalton Kincade—and 13 would probably be a tad high for either of them.
Mock drafts have continued to select Mayer and Kincaid to the Packers even after the team swapped first-round picks with the New York Jets through the trade of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but as Breer notes, it makes little to no sense for Green Bay to go through with the pick swap just to reach on a tight end. For reference, Mayer is ranked as the 21st overall prospect on the consensus draft board while Kincaid comes in at 27th.
As we’ve mentioned before at Acme Packing Company, three of the four highest-rated prospects that the Packers have brought in on visits this offseason have come at the tight end position. The exception is Tennessee tackle Darnell Wright, who is considered a first-round lock. Based on Green Bay’s visits, it’s likely that the team attempts to draft a tight end somewhere around the 30s (either with a trade up or trade down), looks at the edge rusher market in the second round and dabbles with nickel defenders in the third round.
Put in context with the pick swap with the Jets and the visits that the Packers have brought in, trading down for a tight end (and extra picks) makes a whole lot more sense than simply taking one with the 13th overall pick. This one passes the sniff test.
Source: Acme Packing Company
