The Green Bay Packers enter Week 9 with the best record in the NFC at 5-1-1. The team believes it can win the Super Bowl this year. While they haven’t played many dominant games so far, their record and the state of the competition indicate the Packers have to be considered one of the top contenders right now. So, what should GM Brian Gutekunst do with the NFL trade deadline coming early next week? Despite the temptation to fill needs, the Packers should stand pat at the NFL trading deadline next week barring a major surprise.
The team’s biggest need right now is at cornerback. The Packers moved on from former first round picks Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes over the offseason. They signed Nate Hobbs as a free agent but so far, he hasn’t worked out very well. Hobbs spent most of his time with the Raiders in the slot, but the Packers signed him believing he could also play on the boundary. That hasn’t worked out through the first half of the season. Injuries have played a role, but through the first half of the season, it looks like Hobbs’ best role remains the slot.
The other players on the roster who can start on the boundary are Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. Nixon has been the team’s top cover corner this season. Valentine provides the team with a more physical option on the boundary. He works hard and has come a long way since being selected in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. But neither of these players can be considered legitimate shutdown cornerbacks.
The Packers pass defense currently ranks 15th in the league in passing yards allowed per game. However, if either Valentine or Nixon were to miss significant time with injuries, the Packers would have to rely on Hobbs to play extensive minutes as the boundary corner and that is less than ideal.
The Green Bay pass rush helps make things easier for the secondary. Because they get consistent pressure on quarterbacks, the defensive backs don’t have to cover as long as many other teams and can concentrate on taking away short passes.
But come playoff time, when the Packers will be facing elite quarterbacks and receivers, will this secondary be good enough, even if the current cornerbacks all stay healthy? It’s a tough question to answer right now and the team’s situation is less than ideal.
But if the Packers were to trade for a cornerback, who would be available and what would the cost be? The Packers already traded away their first-round picks in 2026 and 2027 in the Micah Parsons trade. Gutekunst still prefers to build through the draft, so trading away another high draft pick would be unlikely.
The Packers do have a deep receiving corps, but would they trade away players like Dontayvion Wicks or Romeo Doubs for a cornerback? And what would they realistically expect in return. Doubs has great chemistry with quarterback Jordan Love and has played a large role in the offense this season. Wicks have another season left on his contract after this year and may not be enough to get a difference maker at cornerback in return.
The bigger issue, however, is that according to most sources, there just aren’t any cornerbacks available who could give the Packers an upgrade over their present top three players at the position. A minor trade to add depth for a late, day-three pick may be possible, but that wouldn’t be an upgrade, it would be more like an insurance policy.
One of the few boundary corners who are allegedly available is Cincinnati’s Cam Taylor-Britt, who isn’t even starting for the Bengals. The former second-round pick will also be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason and Gutekunst won’t want to give up much for a player who will likely only be in Green Bay for half a season.
The other cornerbacks who are allegedly on the market all predominantly play in the slot. Between Hobbs and Javon Bullard, the Packers are well stocked there.
Ultimately, the lack of available players at the position that is the Packers biggest need combined with a lack of ammunition to offer in a trade limits the likelihood of a big trade at the deadline. A minor move is possible, as is the possibility of trading away a player to add a pick or a minor play for player swap.
The worst thing Gutekunst can do is make a trade for the sake of making a trade. If the opportunity arises where he could improve the team at the deadline, he will try to make a move. But right now, that doesn’t seem likely.