Acme Packing Company
Trading for DK Metcalf or Chase Young makes sense
It’s the calm before the storm. Next week, agents and team officials will be meeting but totally-not-tampering at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. There, the ball will get rolling on the 2025 free agency class.
With the Green Bay Packers finally being in a good cap situation for the first time in two or three offseasons, depending on how you want to skin the cat, most fans are expecting the biggest offseason from the club since 2019 — when they brought in linebacker Preston Smith, linebacker Za’Darius Smith, safety Adrian Amos and offensive lineman Billy Turner at the start of free agency.
So consider this your temperature check. Who do you want the team to add? Who is on your wishlist? Let us know in the comment section below.
Here are my candidates:
According to Spotrac, the Seattle Seahawks are $19.4 million over the cap going into the 2025 offseason, the fourth-worst cap situation in the entire league. I’m not sure if DK Metcalf is even being made available to teams, but he would fit exactly what the Packers are looking for right now.
Without Christian Watson, Green Bay desperately needs a man-beater and field-stretcher who can allow Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Tucker Kraft to make use of vacated space. That’s Metcalf’s whole game, and he’s a viable receiver, aside from making players around him better. If the Packers can’t get a Metcalf, especially going into a weak receiver draft, the alternative might be to re-sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the cheap.
Who wouldn’t want a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year with six All-Pros to his name? Oh, yeah, he’s also still in his 20s. The Packers are desperate for a pass rush right now. Lukas Van Ness hasn’t panned out as a first-round pick. Rashan Gary, while developing as a run defender, took a step back as a pass-rusher last season. Outside of those two players, there’s not much upside at defensive end on the team, which plays a scheme that demands a good pass rush.
I’m sure the Cleveland Browns will dig their heels in and try to make it work with Garrett. Trading Garrett, as he’s requested the team to do, would mean the entire franchise hitting the reset button. They would need to release or trade starting players on their team just to assume the dead cap that it would take to move Garrett, because of how poorly their cap situation has been managed since signing the Deshaun Watson contract. A man can wish, though, right?
The New Orleans Saints are $61 million over the salary cap right now and their top pass-rush, Chase Young, is set to hit the market. It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to afford Young, the former second-overall pick who played for Packers defensive coordinator Jeff...
