The Green Bay Packers, as the old say goes, will be in every conversation. And that's the case near the trade deadline once again. According to ESPN's reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Packers are one of the teams exploring potential pass-catcher deals over the next 10 days.

^{"Wide receiver is a buzz-worthy position entering the deadline. People I've talked to believe the Colts, Packers, Panthers and Chiefs have at least monitored the receiver market in recent weeks, though Carolina, sitting at 0-6, might be out, and the Chiefs got their man in Hardman."}

If the Panthers are out because of their bad record, and the Chiefs have already gotten Mecole Hardman, that leaves the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts as the main suitors.

Potential targets

According to Fowler, the Denver Broncos have two wide receivers available for deals, Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Regarding Jeudy's price tag, executives around the league expect it will be a third-round pick, at most, and maybe nobody will be willing to part ways with a day 2 pick for him.

Hunter Renfrow has been an afterthought with the Las Vegas Raiders under Josh McDaniels, so he's also available. The Panthers themselves allowed Terrace Marshall representatives to seek trade partners, but he wouldn't be a significant upgrade, if at all, over what the Packers already have.

Kendrick Bourne, from the New England Patriots, is an interesting name because he knows the basics of the system having played with Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco and would be relatively cheap in terms of draft capital. Speedster Parris Campbell, from the New York Giants, has been mentioned as well.

Approach

The Packers decided to enter the season without a veteran wide receiver. Every receiver on the roster is a second- or first-year player. The idea is to let the young players develop with reps and opportunities. But that approach has a cost, and it may harden Jordan Love's evaluation — the Packers are the fourth worst team in targets to open windows, for instance.

"We try to be in every conversation," general manager Brian Gutekunst said when the Packers explored a deal for running back Jonathan Taylor. "Any time we have good players available to us, we'd like to make the Green Bay Packers better and we'll look at those opportunities."

This general philosophy has made the Packers explore several deals, but they haven't been active buyers. Since general manager Brian Gutekunst took over in 2018, the team hasn't acquired any player during the season. They have selled some, though: safety HaHa Clinton-Dix and running back Ty Montgomery in 2018, plus wide receiver Trevor Davis in 2019.

Green Bay has, though, tried to finalize deals. In 2020, for example, they negotiated with the Houston Texans for Will Fuller until the deadline. However, the Texans wanted a second-round pick, and the Packers weren't willing to go that far. Last season, the Packers offered a second-round pick for Chase Claypool and explored Jerry Jeudy's availability, but neither deal materialized.

The Packers are in a different situation right now. It's not a win-now season, and it doesn't make sense to spend draft capital for a short-term fix. So, besides being a talented player available with a reasonable contract situation, any Packers target also has to fit the team's roster-building timeline.

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