Packers don’t need to chase the trade rumor making the rounds on social media right now
Romeo Doubs is in the final year of his rookie contract.
Throughout the entire offseason, but especially since the draft, when the Green Bay Packers selected Matthew Golden and Savion Williams, there have been multiple trading rumors saying the Packers could eventually trade wide receiver Romeo Doubs.
And it’s fair, to a point. Doubs is a solid receiver, but certainly unspectacular. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract, and after Christian Watson gets back from his knee injury, Doubs might fall to fourth on the WR depth chart.
The rumors returned between Tuesday and Wednesday, after the Packers reached a short-term extension with Watson. Now, Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Golden, and Williams are all under contract beyond 2025—and Green Bay hasn’t shown any inclination to extend Doubs, which gets particularly hard after the team acquired Micah Parsons and made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
Moreover, draft capital is important after the Packers sent two first-round picks for Parsons.
Why it’s not the right time to trade Romeo Doubs
Despite all the reasonable arguments, it makes little sense for the Packers to move on from Doubs right now.
The Packers are in the middle of a realistic Super Bowl window, so it’s certainly not the same situation as when Green Bay traded safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix for a fourth-round pick back in 2018, Brian Gutekunst’s first season as a general manager.
Even if Doubs becomes WR4, he’s the most reliable X receiver on the team, and quarterback Jordan Love has said multiple times how much he trusts Doubs. Matt LaFleur’s offense is gameplan-heavy, and having a player like Doubs could be extremely useful down the road.
Now, consider that Watson is just recovering from a serious knee injury. Even if he comes back from it relatively soon, it’s unrealistic to expect that he will be 100% or that he can be on the field for entire games. Doubs will still be important.
Compensation and value
As aforementioned, it would be positive for the Packers to recoup some draft capital. However, the Packers can simply let Doubs play out his rookie contract, sign elsewhere in free agency, and get a compensatory pick in 2027, and because the Packers won’t have much money to spend in free agency next year anyway, it’s a solid bet.
Unless some desperate team makes an offer they can’t refuse, the trade compensation wouldn’t be good enough to justify the risk. Let’s say the Packers get a fourth-rounder, it’s just anticipating a pick a year — at this point, it’s just better to keep Doubs for the rest of the season.
Only real scenario
The Packers are in it. While draft capital is important, a trade wouldn’t be much better than the compensatory pick. So the only way that trading Doubs in the middle of the season makes sense, and barring a desperate offer, is if Green Bay receives another player in the package.
Player-for-player trades are rare in the NFL, especially in-season. But if the Packers can acquire a player at a position of need — let’s say cornerback — as good as Doubs is at wide receiver, a deal wouldn’t be absurd.
But that’s hard to find. Ultimately, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.
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