The Packers are 6-3 but in order to be a true Super Bowl contender they'll have to improve themselves at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline.
The Green Bay Packers need to make some upgrades at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline. That much is clear after their 24-14 loss to the Detroit Lions which wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
That's not to say the Packers aren't talented. Even with the tough loss to the Lions in Week 9, the Packers are 6-3 and at this juncture, they're trending to be a playoff team. They'll likely have to do it through the Wild Card, but the important thing is making the dance. What you do in the playoffs matters much more than how you got there.
The Packers need upgrades to even think about making a run to the Super Bowl, though. The NFC North is stacked and they're already 0-2 in the division with losses to the Lions and Minnesota Vikings (both at Lambeau Field). There are certainly question marks on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams, but in particular, these three players should be targeted by General Manager Brian Gutekunst at the trade deadline.
The Packers and Cleveland Browns have been willing trade partners in the past. No, it didn't work out, but in 2018, the Packers traded cornerback Damarious Randall and picks to the Browns for quarterback Deshone Kizer. In 2020, they swapped seventh-round picks and the Packers sent lineman Jordan McCray to the Browns.
Can a deal between the two organizations be made here now? With the health of star cornerback Jaire Alexander always being a question mark -- not having Alexander was a big factor in the loss to Detroit -- bringing in a veteran like fourth year corner Greg Newsome II would make sense for the Packers on a cheap deal.
Newsome had two career interceptions, both in 2023 (one returned for a touchdown), and importantly for the Packers, the Browns picked up his club option for 2025 so he'd be more than just a rental. With the Pack feeling that they're in a legitimate Super Bowl window, getting an experienced and talented 24-year-old corner for a season-and-a-half, at least, is great.
The New Orleans Saints are in free-fall mode after losing to the Carolina Panthers, previously thought of as the NFL's worst team. The Saints are 2-7, riding a seven-game losing streak and things have gotten so bad that they fired head coach Dennis Allen two-and-a-half years into his tenure.
The Saints need to rebuild in a bad way but they're also looking a entering 2025 $77 million over the salary cap. Marshon Lattimore has been a star for the Saints ever since they took him with the 11th overall pick in 2017 out of Ohio State, but he'll carry a $31.4 million cap hit in 2025 and a $28.5 million cap hit in 2026.
The Packers are going into 2025 with roughly $55.2 in cap space at this moment, but Gutekunst and Director of Football Operations Russ Ball have both been very good at managing the salary cap in the past in order to bring in and retain top talent.
Lattimore is a few seasons removed from his last Pro Bowl (2021) but he is a four-time Pro Bowler and alongside Alexander and superstar safety Xavier McKinney, he'd make up perhaps the best secondary in the NFL if the Packers were to somehow get this done.
There could be something here for the Packers to explore as it relates to New York Giants outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari. The Packers have to feel pretty good about where they're at when it comes to linebacker with rookie Edgerrin Cooper really starting to look like a star, but third-year linebacker Quay Walker has had a hard time living up to his first-round billing and for as great as a hustle player Isaiah McDuffie is, he's always going to be limited as a player who is more of a rotational piece than anything.
Cooper should become Green Bay's starting middle linebacker because he hits the hole like nobody's business, and allowing Walker to play outside linebacker would allow him to capitalize on his strength, which is pass coverage. The Packers still need some more "juice" in the pass rush, though, and giving defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley an EDGE rusher like Azeez Ojulari who he could move all over the defensive scheme would be a luxury for the Packers.
Ojulari has six sacks already this season, but he's playing for a 2-7 New York Giants team and he's heading into free agency in 2025. The Packers could use him as a rental, or see what he can do in Halfey's scheme and re-sign him this offseason.