Former Packers trade targets ready for NFL returns

Some of the best decisions that Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has made during his tenure leading the Packers have been the moves he didn’t actually make.

A Las Vegas Raiders tight end at the time, Darren Waller was supposed to be part of the original trade that eventually sent Davante Adams out west. Essentially, the Packers subbed out Waller for a second-round pick in the trade, once both sides realized that Green Bay couldn’t participate in a player-for-player trade. Adams had not yet signed his franchise tag tender with the team, part of the conditions for allowing such a trade to occur for a player hit by the tag.

Waller stuck with the Raiders for one more year, registering six starts before being sent to the New York Giants in 2023 for a third-round pick. He played all of one year for the Giants before retiring the next year.

The tight end made headlines last week when he decided to come out of retirement after sitting out the 2024 season, leading to his trade to the Miami Dolphins for a 2026 sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2027 seventh-round pick. To say the least, this is Miami taking a flier on the former Pro Bowler.

Another player the Packers got close to the finish line on, trade-wise, is former Pittsburgh Steeler receiver Chase Claypool. As the story goes, Green Bay offered a second-round pick for Claypool toward the end of Aaron Rodgers’ tenure with the Packers, but were beaten out by the Chicago Bears’ second-round offer, as the Steelers valued the Bears’ pick higher than the Packers’.

Like Waller, Claypool spent the 2024 season out of the NFL, as he was dealing with a toe injury. Claypool only ended up playing 10 games for the Bears before suiting up for the Dolphins for nine games in the 2023 season, the last time we’ve seen him on the field in the regular season.

According to Claypool, a free agent, he’s “the strongest and fastest [he’s] ever been.” It will be interesting to see who takes a swing on the 27-year-old who at one point recorded a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at 6’4” and 229 pounds.

The Packers do have an extra roster spot open on their 91-man offseason roster right now, so it’s not impossible that Green Bay kicks the tires on the Notre Dame product.