Packers could use potential Broncos fire sale to their benefit
With just three more games before the Oct. 31 trade deadline, the Denver Broncos are likely one or two more losses away from possibly blowing things up and trading off some of their top assets.
Should that happen, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell believes the Green Bay Packers could use the situation to their benefit and pry away receiver Jerry Jeudy, giving first-year starter Jordan Love a legitimate No. 1 receiver.
In Barnwell’s trade proposal, he has Green Bay taking advantage of Denver waving the white flag and landing Jeudy and a 2024 fourth-round pick in exchange for second-year wideout and leading receiver Romeo Doubs plus a 2024 second-round pick.
“The Broncos would land a viable wideout in Doubs, who lacks Jeudy's upside but would add more size to the Denver receiving corps,” Barnwell wrote. “(Sean) Payton might like his chances of molding Doubs into a more impactful starter over the next couple of seasons. The Broncos would free up more snaps for Marvin Mims, who simply has to play a bigger role in this lineup, given how productive he has been as a deep target so far as a rookie.”
Losing Doubs, who leads the Packers in receptions (21), targets (37), yards (228) and touchdowns (three), would hurt, but it’s also a price worth paying for the Packers. Though he’s only 23 and has shown solid growth from his rookie year, Doubs is not on the same level as Jeudy, who was the 15th overall pick in 2020.
The 24-year-old Jeudy was just 28 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season last year, and he’s seen 100 or more targets in two of his first three seasons. As a former first-round pick, and coming from Alabama, which has churned out several top-tier WRs over the years, Jeudy has the pedigree and potential to be to Love what Davante Adams was to Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers have an extra second-round pick in 2024 from the Rodgers trade, so they wouldn’t be shorting themselves any premium draft picks either.
Jeudy and Christian Watson would give Green Bay a strong 1-2 punch at WR and provide some stability with rookie receiver Jayden Reed and rookie tight end Luke Musgrave still getting their feet wet.
“Payton would probably prefer to deal Courtland Sutton if trading away a wide receiver, but Jeudy is going to offer a more significant return, given his age and contract situation,” Barnwell added. “Because of how desperately the Broncos need draft capital, maximizing the return on Jeudy and landing a second-round pick for a player toward the end of his rookie deal makes sense, even if the Broncos have to give up a fourth-round pick in return.”
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