Packers’ trade deadline history shows why Brian Gutekunst’s patience has been a blessing in disguise for Green Bay
Green Bay hasn’t acquired a player before the deadline under Gutekunst, and the deals that fell through tell a very different story in hindsight.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make, and that describes the Green Bay Packers’ approach at the trade deadline. Since general manager Brian Gutekunst took over in 2018, the Packers have never acquired a player right before the trade deadline.
That doesn’t mean Gutekunst hasn’t tried. Green Bay has shown interest in several players over the years, especially in 2020 and, more than any other year, in 2022, when the Packers were trying to salvage what would become Aaron Rodgers’ final season in Green Bay. Two of those situations in particular show why overpaying for help at the deadline is rarely a good idea.
Will Fuller and the 2020 negotiations
In 2020, the Packers had real negotiations with the Houston Texans for wide receiver Will Fuller. According to reports at the time, Green Bay offered a fourth-round pick, while Houston demanded a second-rounder for a receiver in the final year of his contract.
The key detail came days after the deadline. The NFL suspended Fuller six games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, and he missed the final five games of the 2020 season and the first game of 2021.
Fuller then signed a one-year, $10.6 million contract with the Miami Dolphins in 2021, but he broke his thumb and barely played. He appeared in only two games for Miami and finished with 26 yards. Fuller never played in the NFL again after that season.
The Packers also tried to acquire defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson from the New York Giants that year. Tomlinson remained a productive player for several seasons, later suiting up for the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and Los Angeles Chargers, where he is still playing nose tackle. However, the price tag never made sense for Green Bay.
The Chase Claypool bidding war
The other big example of a bullet dodged came in 2022, when the Packers tried to acquire wide receiver Chase Claypool from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Green Bay did offer a second-round pick. The Chicago Bears also offered a second-rounder, though, and Pittsburgh correctly figured the Bears’ pick would land higher.
That pick ended up being even better than expected. The NFL stripped the Dolphins of their 2023 first-round selection as punishment for violating its anti-tampering policy, because of illegal conversations with quarterback Tom Brady and the agent of then-New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. As a consequence, Chicago’s pick moved up to No. 32 overall, and the Steelers used it on cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
The Packers held the 45th pick in that draft, traded down, and selected wide receiver Jayden Reed with the 50th overall selection.
Claypool’s production never came close to justifying the investment. He played seven games for the Bears in 2022 and had 140 yards with no touchdowns. In 2023, he played only three games, with 51 yards and one touchdown. That’s fewer than 200 yards and a single score in Chicago.
The Bears then traded him to the Dolphins in 2023 for a swap of sixth- and seventh-round picks in 2025. In one year, Claypool went from second-round value to a late-round swap. He has been out of the NFL since 2024, when he had a short stint with the Buffalo Bills and didn’t make the 53-man roster. Earlier this year, the Packers even worked him out during rookie minicamp, but they didn’t sign him after all.
Other 2022 targets
Green Bay also explored a deal for tight end Darren Waller, then with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Packers had already tried to land him once. When they traded Davante Adams to Las Vegas, Waller was supposed to be part of the package. However, Adams was under the franchise tag, so another player couldn’t be part of the compensation. The Packers ended up getting first- and second-round picks for Adams instead.
The Raiders didn’t move Waller at the deadline either, and he never returned to his peak form. He finished 2022 with only nine games and 388 receiving yards, then had a viable 2023 season with the Giants, posting 552 yards. He retired, came back last year with the Dolphins, and is now with the Carolina Panthers, but he hasn’t been the explosive player he was in Las Vegas.
The Packers also had preliminary conversations about DJ Moore, who was with Carolina in 2022. The Panthers refused to make any deal and later sent Moore to the Bears as part of the trade for the pick that became Bryce Young. That deal also allowed Chicago to select quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in 2024.
That’s a long list of players Gutekunst pursued without pulling the trigger. For the most part, staying put turned into a positive outcome for Green Bay, and it explains why the front office has been so reluctant to overpay as the deadline approaches.
