As the old saying goes, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make. And that's exactly how things transpired for the Green Bay Packers at the trade deadline last year.

Reports from the time, and confirmed on Friday by ESPN's Adam Schefter, indicated that general manager Brian Gutekunst was willing to send the Pittsburgh Steelers a second-round pick to acquire wide receiver Chase Claypool.

Both the Bears and Packers offered a second-round pick for Chase Claypool last year, and the Steelers ultimately accepted Chicago's offer. Green Bay ended up using their second-round pick to select Michigan State WR Jayden Reed.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 6, 2023

However, the Chicago Bears also offered a second-rounder. And the thought process for the Steelers was projecting the Bears with a higher pick than the Packers, which was the correct decision: Chicago had the worst record in football in 2022, and the Steelers got the 32nd overall pick — the first round had only 31 picks, because the Miami Dolphins were stripped off of theirs.

On Friday, after a tumultuous and unproductive stint, the Bears traded Chase Claypool away. The Miami Dolphins got him for a 2025 late-round swap, a crazy devaluation in less than one calendar year.

With that pick, the Steelers drafted cornerback Joey Porter. It's too early in his career to tell what the defensive back will be. So far, he's had a 68.0 PFF grade, allowing a 39.6 passer rating when targeted. Those are both good numbers for a rookie.

Big winners

Even though the Steelers won the trade itself by a significant margin over the Bears, the Packers are the biggest winners of the entire process — even though it was mostly luck, and the process was not good whatsoever.

The Packers ended up with the 43rd overall pick, the 12th pick in the second round — Green Bay also had the 42nd pick, but that came from the Aaron Rodgers trade to the New York Jets.

After selecting tight end Luke Musgrave with the 42nd pick, they opted to trade down from their original selection, going to 45 and adding a fifth-rounder. They moved down once again, to 50, and added another sixth-round draft pick.

At the end of the draft, the 43rd pick had been transformed into wide receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, plus defensive tackle Karl Brooks. Those three rookies have been three of the most impactful young players for the Packers so far this season.

Over the first four weeks of the season, Reed has had 12 receptions for 203 yards and two touchdowns, generating a 111.3 passer rating when targeted. Wicks has six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Karl Brooks has generated seven total pressures and two sacks, with a 69.4 pass rush grade from PFF.

In comparison, Chase Claypool had 18 receptions for 191 yards and one touchdown in 10 games. His tenure in Chicago is over, and there's no real compensation for that.

The process trying to reinforce the wide receiving group for the Packers last year wasn't sound. But sometimes, luck is an undeniable factor. And Gutekunst capitalized his luck with solid draft moves this year.

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