Packer Central

Packers NFL Trade Deadline Tracker: No Additons, Despite Instagram Post

The NFL trade deadline will strike at 3 p.m. Central on Tuesday. Here’s the latest on the Green Bay Packers, including the trade of Preston Smith and all the news at cornerback.

Bill Huber

Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith embrace during a 2019 game with the Packers.
Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith embrace during a 2019 game with the Packers. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis, Appleton Post-Crescent via Imagn Content Services, LLC
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The NFL Trade Deadline is today. After 3 p.m. Central on Tuesday, no more trades can be made this season.

Will the Green Bay Packers make a move to add to what they believe is a Super Bowl-caliber roster?

Here is the latest news.

Packers Don’t Add at NFL Trade Deadline

As usual, the NFL trade deadline came and went without the Packers acquiring a player.

Several deals were struck on Tuesday, including a few for cornerbacks, but the only trade involving Green Bay was for a seventh-round pick.

Without Smith, Arron Mosby will be in line for more playing time as the fourth defensive end. A staple on special teams this season, Mosby played a season-high five snaps on defense on Sunday against Detroit and had a half-sack.

Packers Save By Trading Preston Smith

Ken Ingalls knows the ins and outs of the salary cap. Here is the impact of trading Preston Smith:

Packers Trade Preston Smith

The Packers have traded defensive end Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a source told Packers On SI.

Here is our story.

Rams Send Cornerback Tre’Davious White to Ravens

Even with the Los Angeles Rams in the playoff chase, they traded veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White to the Baltimore Ravens for … almost nothing.

With the Buffalo Bills, White was runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2017, a first-team All-Pro in 2019 and a second-team All-Pro in 2020.

However, injuries have ruined an excellent career. With Buffalo, he played in 11 games before a torn ACL in 2021, six games in 2022 and four games due to a torn Achilles in 2023.

This year with the Rams, he played in four games (all starts) with zero interceptions and two passes defensed. According to SportRadar, he allowed a 66.7 percent catch rate with four touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 138.4.

Top Cornerback Goes to Commanders

Far and away the best cornerback on the market was longtime New Orleans Saints standout Marshon Lattimore.

With the Saints plunging into the abyss at 2-7 following a seventh consecutive loss, they traded the four-time Pro Bowler to one of the NFL’s rising powers, the Washington Commanders, about 3 hours before the deadline. The Commanders reportedly sent third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks to Washington in exchange for Lattimore and a fifth-round pick.

A first-round pick in 2017, the 28-year-old has 15 career interceptions. In seven starts this season, he has zero interceptions and two passes defensed. According to SportRadar, he has allowed 12-of-22 passing (54.5 percent) for only 114 yards.

However, he’s started and finished only four games this season due to on-again, off-again hamstring issues.

No, This Trade Did Not Happen

With less than 4 hours until the NFL trade deadline, Packers receiver Jayden Reed posted a photo of Brown cornerback Greg Newsome to his Instagram.

A look at Jayden Reed's Instagram
A look at Jayden Reed's Instagram / Screenshot

The Packers could use a cornerback. Newsome, a former first-round pick, reportedly is available.

So, connecting dots …

No, don’t connect dots.

A source said the Packers did not trade for Newsome, nor are they expected to trade for Newsome.

Newsome is from Chicago and Reed is from nearby Naperville. They are friends, the source said.

Trade Ammunition

The Packers made a league-high 35 picks during the last three NFL Drafts, including 11 this year.

However, general manager Brian Gutekunst, who covets draft picks like squirrels covet acorns, will have fewer picks at his disposal in 2025. And that means less capital to use in a potential trade-deadline deal.

The Packers are slated to have seven picks in the 2025 NFL Draft – one in each round. The Packers traded a seventh-round pick to the Titans for Malik Willis and gained a projected seventh-round compensatory pick for losing offensive tackle Yosh Nijman in free agency.

On a Related Note

According to Fox Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz, here would be the cost of acquiring Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

Lattimore probably is the best cornerback available and the only true difference-maker at the position.

The question for general manager Brian Gutekunst: Would it be worth trading a pick toward the end of the second round for acquire a 28-year-old cornerback who is superb when healthy but has been limited to 68.4 percent playing time this season, 56.2 percent in 2023 and 36.7 percent in 2022?

Areas of Need

The Packers appear to be set on offense. They are ninth in points per game and fourth in total offense. The only thing that side of the ball needs is better execution, with Green Bay ranking 20th on third down and a woeful 29th in the red zone and Jordan Love tied for the most interceptions.

Defensively, while Green Bay is a solid 13th in points allowed per game and 11th in total defense, the pass defense needs to improve.

The Packers are 16th in opponent completion percentage and 18th in yards allowed per passing attempt.

A strong pass rush would help the secondary. While they are a decent 14th in sack percentage, 12 of their 22 sacks came against Tennessee (eight) and Houston (four). It had one against Jacksonville and one against Detroit the last two games.

A couple of pass rushers have been traded – more on that later – but the best player on the market is the Giants’ Azeez Ojulari, who has six sacks this season. That’s as many as Rashan Gary (2.5), Preston Smith (2.5) and Lukas Van Ness (1.0) combined.

Ojulari is playing on the final year of his rookie deal. He is only 24 and probably would require a fourth-round pick to obtain.

The other way to help the pass defense is to add another corner.

With Jaire Alexander inactive against Detroit, Lions quarterback Jared Goff was 18-of-21 on targeted passes, including 11-of-11 to receivers.

The Lions have a star receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown, who caught all seven targets, but the rest of the receiver corps doesn’t compare to what the Packers are going to face the rest of the season – including after the bye against Chicago’s Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen.

Is the combination of Alexander and Keisean Nixon at corner and rookie Javon Bullard in the slot good enough to match up against the elite quarterbacks and receivers that fill the second half of the schedule as well as the playoffs?

The Saints’ Marshon Lattimore is by far the best cornerback who could be available, though there have been rumors about the Packers’ interest in the Browns’ Greg Newsome.

A first-round pick in 2021, Newsome has zero interceptions and three passes defensed in nine games (three starts) this season. He was torched by the Eagles but allowed 6-of-9 passing for 65 yards in 87 coverage snaps the last three games, according to Pro Football Focus.

The 24-year-old has started 39 games his first three seasons, including 13 last year, when he set career highs with two interceptions and 14 passes defensed. He is under contract through 2025.

Packers Trade Deadline History

Will the Packers add to their roster?

History says no. The last time the Packers were “buyers” at or near the trade deadline was 2010, when they acquired safety Anthony Smith from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a conditional draft pick. Smith wasn’t exactly the reason why the Packers won the Super Bowl; he played in four games.

Last year, the Packers were sellers when they traded Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills.

Sellers Again?

A couple weeks ago, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that teams had interest in Packers defensive end Preston Smith and backup offensive tackle Andre Dillard.

Smith will turn 32 on Nov. 17, when the Packers are scheduled to play at Chicago. He had two sacks in Week 3 at Tennessee and a half-sack at the Rams in Week 5. The last four games, he has zero sacks, zero tackles for losses, one quarterback hit and six tackles.

Smith played a season-high 71.1 percent of the snaps in Week 1 against the Eagles but a season-low 36.8 percent against the Lions. The decline in playing time is a signal the Packers wouldn’t mind trading Smith and giving more opportunities to Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare.

Smith is under contract for two more seasons with base salaries of $12.0 million in 2025 and $12.6 million in 2026.

NFC Teams Making Moves

Four NFC playoff contenders have made deals. Along with Washington acquiring cornerback Marshon Lattimore:

The Detroit Lions acquired former Packers pass rusher Za’Darius Smith. The 32-year-old will try to fill the void created when superstar defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffered a broken leg. Smith has 5.0 sacks in nine games this season.

Of 90 edge defenders with at least 100 pass-rushing opportunities, he ranks 11th in pass-rush win rate, according to Pro Football Focus.

Smith had double-digits sacks with the Packers in 2019 (13.5) and 2020 (12.5) and Vikings in 2022 (10.0). He’ll be worth the low price if he can be the final piece to the puzzle.

The Arizona Cardinals acquired outside linebacker Baron Browning from the Broncos for a sixth-round pick. A third-round pick in 2021, Browning has played in five games (two starts) this season with zero sacks or quarterback hits. He had a total of 9.5 sacks and 21 quarterback hits the previous two seasons.

The Chicago Bears sent running back Khalil Herbert to the Bengals. After rushing for 731 yards with a 5.7-yard average in 2022 and 611 yards with a 4.6-yard average in 2023, Herbert became the odd man out in Chicago after it signed D’Andre Swift. He has only eight carries this season and was traded for a seventh-round pick.

More Green Bay Packers News 

Packers-Lions: Three Overreactions | Trade for Marshon Lattimore | Snaps, stats, studs and duds | Lions “built” for bad weather; Packers are not | Packers-Lions: Report card | Another annoying interception | Packers-Lions: Stock report | Packers-Lions: Game story | Packers-Lions: Live updates | Packers-Lions: Highlights | Packers-Lions inactives | Three reasons why Packers will lose to Lions

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.