After a disappointing finish to their season, the Green Bay Packers will need to act with urgency to reassert themselves in the NFC North.
The Detroit Lions remain the class of the division despite their own playoff failure. The Minnesota Vikings have a brilliant head coach and won 14 games. And even the Chicago Bears could be playoff contenders if things go well under new coach Ben Johnson.
The NFL is sometimes an arms race, and when the teams in your division are stockpiling superstar talent, sometimes it’s best to go out and trade for some yourself.
There would be no trade target more worthy of acquiring this winter than Cleveland Browns superstar Myles Garrett. The four-time first-team All-Pro and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year looks to at least be in the realm of possibility after the Browns’ three-win season.
In a recent article, Packers reporter Matt Schneidman of The Athletic urged the Packers to consider a trade for Garrett this spring to assert themselves as true title contenders next season.
“The devil on (general manager Brian) Gutekunst’s shoulder should entice him to trade for a (Myles Garrett), no matter how much it takes or how unlikely it seems given the Packers’ organizational history with such trades (if they’re even on the block),” Schneidman wrote.
“That would show urgency and could vault Green Bay into Super Bowl contention.”
Garrett, 29, has racked up 102.5 sacks in his 117 career games, putting up double digits in every season since his 2017 rookie year. He led the NFL in tackles for loss this season with 20 and has also forced 20 fumbles in his eight seasons in the league.
The five-year, $125 million contract Garrett signed with the Browns is fully guaranteed through 2026, so the Packers would be getting two years of Garrett at a cost of just over $40 million.
Game-wreckers get that nickname for a reason. Garrett could walk into Green Bay on day one and completely change the tone of the Packers’ good-not-great defense. And that, in turn, would make them terrifying to face in 2025.
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