Packers Draft Rumors: D.J. Moore, Chase Claypool

The NFC arms race has begun, with the San Francisco 49ers sending four draft picks to the Carolina Panthers for running back Christian McCaffrey on Thursday night. Now, will the Green Bay Packers respond in kind before the Nov. 1 trade deadline? Are they even capable?

The 49ers have gone all-in. Having already traded away their 2023 first-round pick to move up to select quarterback Trey Lance, they shipped 2023 second-, third- and fourth-rounders and a 2024 fifth-rounder to get the ultraproductive but injury-prone running back.

So long as McCaffrey stays healthy, it could be a league-shifting move. The 49ers, Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams are the four supposed NFC powers who are 3-3 entering Week 7. Playing in all six games this season, McCaffrey is 13th in the NFL with 393 rushing yards and 15th with 33 receptions. He has five consecutive games of 100-plus total yards, including 104 yards vs. the 49ers in Week 5 and 158 vs. the Rams last week.

With the Panthers dealing their superstar sixth-year running back a week after firing their coach, they’ve sent a clear signal that they’re in rebuilding mode.

Does that mean their star receiver, D.J. Moore, is available, too?

Moore, a first-round pick in 2018, is one of the top receivers in the NFL. Even with the Panthers lacking a big-time quarterback, he posted 87 receptions for 1,175 yards in 2019, 66 receptions for 1,193 yards in 2020 and 93 receptions for 1,157 yards in 2021. He scored four touchdowns in each of those seasons. Moore averaged a career-high 18.1 yards per catch in 2020; he’s averaging a career-low 10.2 yards this season with his 20 receptions for 204 yards and one touchdown.

Moore signed a contract extension this offseason that has him tied to the Panthers through the 2025 season. He’s playing for the league minimum this year before his base salary swells to almost $20 million for next year.

So, back to the Moore question. Is he available? For the right price, any player is available but a league source said he didn’t get the sense the Panthers were actively shopping him. That makes sense. The Panthers are hoping to draft one of the stud quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. That quarterback will need a stud receiver. The 25-year-old Moore is considered a building block in that plan. Moreover, trading a player after seven games after giving him a $19.5 million signing bonus would be bad business.

A more likely target could be found in Pittsburgh, with the Packers reportedly interested in receiver Chase Claypool and the Steelers open for business. A second-round pick in 2020, Claypool had 62 receptions for 873 yards (14.1 average) and nine touchdowns as a rookie and 59 receptions for 860 yards (14.6 yards) and two touchdowns last season. With their quarterbacks struggling through the post-Ben Roethlisberger transition, Claypool has 23 receptions for 225 yards (9.8 average) in six games this season. That’s a 17-game pace of 65 receptions for 637 yards.

At 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, Claypool has the total package. He can win deep (19 receptions on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield his first two seasons), break tackles (17 his first two seasons) and help as a runner (32 carries, 167 yards, 5.2 average for his career).

The Steelers would be dealing from a position of strength with Claypool, impressive rookie George Pickens and Diontae Johnson forming a quality Big 3.

Financially, this would be an easy one for the cap-strapped Packers. He is in Year 3 of his rookie deal, so has base salaries of $1.21 million in 2021 (of which the Packers would only have to pay a percentage) and $1.51 million in 2023.

The draft cost would be huge, though. According to a league executive who makes trades for his team, the cost could be about on par with the McCaffrey trade, with “multiple” second-round picks, a third and a fifth. Not that Aaron Rodgers cares about future draft picks.

A lower-cost option, should the New England Patriots be looking to deal, would be Nelson Agholor. A first-round pick by the Eagles in 2015, his lone seasons of 60 catches came in 2017 and 2018 and he’s never approached 1,000 yards or 10 touchdowns. But he is a legit deep threat, which the Packers lack. He was tied for ninth with 11 receptions on deep passes in 2020, according to PFF.

Second-year receiver Elijah Moore reportedly has requested a trade from the New York Jets; the Jets reportedly said no. The 34th pick of last year’s draft, he caught 43 passes for 538 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. He has 16 receptions this season but was not targeted in 32 snaps last week against the Packers.

At 5-foot-10, Moore is at his best in the slot. The Packers already have Randall Cobb and Amari Rodgers as undersized receivers who are at their best in the slot.