The Green Bay Packers front office has consistently talked of (and executed) free agency and trade market roster improvements in recent years. In the Brian Gutekunst era, the Packers have proven to be more sellers in the trade market; shipping away players like Devante Adams, Aaron Rodgers, and Rasul Douglas when they felt it would help them in the future. Those crucial roster decisions quickly paid dividends, as the Green Bay Packers became the youngest team to win an NFL playoff game in the Super Bowl era when they dominated the Dallas Cowboys in a surprising upset in the 2023-24 NFC Wild Card round.
In the 2024 offseason, the Packers continued adding to the young and talented roster with over 100 million dollars in free agent signings along with 11 draft picks in the 2024 draft class. General Manager Brian Gutekunst has made it clear he will continue to look to improve the roster in any way, though it seems some people take that idea to the extreme
Bleacher Report Posts Blockbuster Trade Proposal Between Green Bay Packers And Dallas Cowboys
The Green Bay Packers put an abrupt end to a promising 12-5 Dallas Cowboys season when they defeated the two-seeded Cowboys in a 48-32 handling in the 2024 wild card round. In the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys notably failed to sign any high-quality free agents. Much of this is likely put on the fact they have multiple star players looking for contracts in coming years, giving the Cowboys less money to offer new talent.
One of those star players is the young wide receiver out of Oklahoma, Ceedee Lamb. Lamb managed to rack up 3.4k receiving yards in his first three years as an NFL wideout, good for the top 15 all-time to start a career. With no contract yet to be signed, trades have begun to swirl for the coveted receiver, one of which garnered a lot of attention from Packers fans.
“Green Bay Packers: Romeo Doubs or Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and 2nd-Rounder:
The Green Bay Packers have a lot of good, though not great or well-established receivers. But in a huge year for Jordan Love and Co., the team might want to go bold with Lamb and sacrifice two of them because they’ve established the depth necessary to afford that swap.
Essentially, they have become top-heavy. In this case, we’re presenting the idea of Dallas landing one primary slot guy to more directly replace Lamb (Jayden Reed) along with one of two talented but generally disappointing outside figures.
All come cheap right now, and the Cowboys would be foolish to turn away from them as well as some Day 2 draft capital ahead of such an odd-looking season.” – Brandon Gagnon of Bleacher Report
Three Reasons The Green Bay Packers And Dallas Cowboys Would Not Execute Blockbuster Trade
1. Green Bay Packers Cap Flexibility Would Disappear
The Green Bay Packers receiving core has proven to be dynamic and talented, but it is hard to find any positive as big as their current cost. As described in a Forbes article recently, the Packers receivers have proven to be far more productive than their current rookie contracts.
The group of Reed, Doubs, Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton and Malik Heath caught a combined 221 passes for 2,813 yards (12.7 average) and scored 27 touchdowns in 2023.- Rob Reischel of Forbes
Once the Packers bring in a talent like Lamb and are forced to pay him, the luxury of having the NFL’s cheapest receiving core disappears. The Packers would find offensive production despite cap constraints as opposed to being assisted by cap flexibility.
2. Dallas Cowboys Unlikely To Trade Best Offensive Player
The Dallas Cowboys have been in a win-now mentality for over a decade, particularly under the arm of Dak Prescott. During this time they have drafted franchise cornerstones like Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and Ceedee Lamb. It is generally understood that teams look to keep talent that they brought in through the draft particularly the ones proven to be in the elite tier.
A consensus elite wideout is not an easy talent to obtain, for the Dallas Cowboys it would appear as though they are no longer looking to win a Super Bowl now if they shipped away a talent like Ceedee Lamb. Not only sending a message to opponents but fans as well.
3. Green Bay Packers And Dallas Cowboys Rivalry Is In Full Swing
The Packers and Cowboys have met many times in the 21st century in key matchups and playoff bouts alike. In the Aaron Rodgers era, the Packers stunted two Cowboys seasons in the Divisional round of the playoffs including an iconic playoff comeback in 2015. Aaron Rodgers ended his Packers tenure 2-0 in the playoffs and 6-3 in the regular season against the Cowboys (6-1 in the final 7). During this time it became clear a rivalry was brewing against the consistent NFC Contenders. Though heading into the post-Aaron Rodgers era, there were question marks around the future of said rivalry.
Whatever questions there were became answered when the underdog Green Bay Packers blew out the Dallas Cowboys in the 2024 NFL Playoffs, reinvigorating both franchises to the rivalry. Now just months removed from that playoff game, it seems unlikely the Dallas Cowboys would be willing to offer a superstar playmaker to a team they have grown to hate. A trade of such caliber between conference rivals would raise the eyebrows of Cowboys and Packers fans alike.
