ESPN insider suggests Packers could trade 2 defenders

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes that the Green Bay Packers may be in a position to move one of their edge rushers before the trade deadline passes. When asked about who the San Francisco 49ers could target, following Nick Bosa’s ACL tear, here’s what Fowler said:

“Other potential options I suspect the 49ers will check on include edge rushers Rashan Gary (Packers), Jaelan Phillips (Dolphins), Bradley Chubb (Dolphins), Jermaine Johnson (Jets), Will McDonald IV (Jets) and Arden Key (Titans). If the Packers won’t part with Gary — and I don’t think they would — they have pass rusher Kingsley Enagbare, a former starter who’s relegated to a reserve role in a contract year. Pass rusher could elicit the most movement on the trade market overall, and I suspect San Francisco will be involved to some extent.”

Obviously, the Packers traded for Micah Parsons before the season started, so you’d think that the team would have an extra player at the position, but I’m not so certain that line of thinking holds up. First of all, Green Bay is playing its three-defensive end “Cheetah” packages nearly as often as their 4-3 base defense. So, in general, there’s an increased amount of snaps for defensive ends to play on this defense already.

Secondly, the Packers are dealing with several injuries at the position. Lukas Van Ness was carted to the locker room with a foot injury during Week 6 action. Brenton Cox Jr. is on the injured reserve. Rookie fifth-round pick Collin Oliver is on the physically unable to perform list.

Moving off from either Gary or Enagbare right now would mean that, if Gary were traded, that Enagbare would become a starter and that Barryn Sorrell, a rookie who has played limited snaps this year, would be the team’s third defensive end. The Packers would save north of $10 million by moving off of Gary in a trade, but I just can’t see it happening.

Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur is already openly questioning if his defensive line is poorly conditioned, and making the unit thinner won’t help in that regard.