The Green Bay Packers are retooling and, if they could, Brian Gutekunst would love to steal 1 player from the Vikings, Bears and Lions in the NFC North.
Aaron Rodgers' departure this offseason undoubtedly creates a wildly unknowable immediate future for the Green Bay Packers. The team clearly believes in Jordan Love taking over at quarterback and this remains an overall talented roster. At the same time, though, there's no way to know if Love is the franchise quarterback given his lack of meaningful NFL snaps, which is a huge factor.
Having said that, in the thralls of the offseason, it's hard not to dream a bit. And what better dream is there for the Packers than not only being able to upgrade the roster but to do so by stealing from the rest of the NFC North in the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings? Brian Gutekunst and every fan in Green Bay would surely love that.
Who would they steal though? Let's take a look at the one player for each team that the Packers would steal if they could while trying to not double up on any positions and still helping the cause in Green Bay.
Green Bay Packers: 1 player from Vikings, Bears, Lions that they'd love to steal
Packers would love to steal OT Braxton Jones from the Chicago Bears
I know what you're thinking: Cody, the Packers have arguably one of the best offensive lines in the NFC when healthy. Why in the world would they want Braxton Jones, a second-year player who was drafted in the fifth round by the Bears?
A fair question, but one with an easy answer.
For one, Jones far outplayed his draft position as a rookie put into an unexpectedly large role in Chicago last season, He graded out as the 18th best tackle in the NFL according to PFF (subscription required) last season. Moreover, he improved throughout the season as he garnered more reps at the pro level after playing college ball at Southern Utah.
On top of that, though, the Packers are in a tough position at tackle. David Bakhtiari is not only high-priced with a $21 million cap hit in the 2023 season and a $40 million cap hit next season. Additionally, injuries have also been an issue for a player who will turn 32 years old this year over the past few campaigns.
Subsequently, Green Bay would love to be able to hit the reset button on a player who is making a fifth-round rookie salary but already performing at a starting-level tackle in the NFL in Jones rather than paying Bakhtiari that type of money with less injury reliability as he enters the late stages of his career.
Packers would love to steal FS Tracy Walker from the Detroit Lions
Of all of the players on the Lions roster that have a lot of intrigue moving forward, Tracy Walker probably wouldn't be in the Top 10. After all, you could make a case for the Packers wanting the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell, and many others.
And yet, if we're trying not to double up on positions as we steal players for the Packers from NFC North teams, the way that works out for me is ultimately having tackle covered by the Bears with Jones as they don't have much in the way of skill position talent while also not having a ton of promise when it comes to the defense either. And with the Vikings, well, we'll cover that shortly.
So instead of thinking more long term, stealing Tracy Walker would be something to help Green Bay in the immediate state of their defense.
Adrian Amos is now gone, or at least it seems that way as he remains a free agent. He struggled this past season with the Packers, but the fact of the matter is that they don't necessarily have an obvious replacement for him. Guys like Rudy Ford, Tarvarius Moore, Jonathan Owens and rookie Anthony Johnson Jr. just don't move the needle or aren't proven in any capacity.
Walker, however, is certainly proven as a solid player on the back end. He's perfect in the free safety role with excellent coverage skills that have really shined while Detroit, on the whole, has been sorting out the secondary. But adding him to this Packers defense would fill the most obvious roster hole defensively to help make Jordan Love's runway a bit smoother for landing.
Packers would love to steal WR Justin Jefferson from the Minnesota Vikings
If we didn't have Justin Jefferson as the player the Packers would steal for the Vikings, that would frankly be malpractice.
Since being selected as a first-round pick in 2020, all Jefferson has done is immediately establish himself as one of the best receivers in the NFL. This past season, he finished with a league-high 128 receptions and 1,809 yards while also adding eight touchdowns to his credit. He's now amassed at least 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns in all three seasons that he's been in the league out of LSU.
On the flip side, there is very little proven about the Packers in the wide receiver room. Christian Watson came on strong at the end of last season, Romeo Doubs flashed some potential and has developed some rapport this offseason with Jordan Love, and Jayden Reed has plenty of fans as a rookie. At the same time, though, none of those guys have a full season of helping carry an offense, especially when a future Hall-of-Famer is no longer at quarterback.
Adding Jefferson to the mix would be the game-changer that's missing when you look at the pass-catchers right now in Green Bay. His ability to attack quite literally every level of the field at an elite level would be something special. Moreover, the best could still be yet to come — a scary notion for the rest of the NFL — for the wideout as he turned just 24 years old in June.
Yes, we don't know what the Jordan Love era will look like for the Packers. But given what Jefferson has done with the king of mediocrity in Kirk Cousins, it's hard to imagine that the floor for Green Bay's new QB1 wouldn't be raised substantially if they somehow added the all-world receiver to the offensive depth chart.