Green Bay Packers Trade Targets: TE O.J. Howard

With the trade deadline just a few weeks away, Green Bay Packers’ GM Brian Gutekunst should be calling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers about tight end, OJ Howard.

Coming into the 2019 season, we knew that the tight end position was going to play a more important role under Matt LaFleur than it did under Mike McCarthy and so far it has. All three Green Bay Packers’ tight ends – Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis, and Robert Tonyan – are all much more involved in the offense.

And although the tight end unit has had their moments this season, including a few Graham touchdowns, a fantastic catch by Tonyan in Dallas, and a number of big blocks from Lewis, this Packers team could still use another dynamic weapon in the passing game.

If we take a look at these Green Bay tight ends, Lewis has never been a real threat in the passing game, Tonyan is still continuing to develop, while Graham just isn’t able to separate and create space like he used to. Meanwhile at receiver, outside of Davante Adams, the Packers are struggling to find consistent production.

In his short time as Green Bay Packers’ GM, Brian Gutekunst has already shown us that he is willing to pick up the phone and make a move if he feels it will better this team. Well, OJ Howard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a name he should be calling on before the trade deadline.

Howard is in his third NFL season after the Bucs selected him 19th overall in the 2017 draft out of Alabama. Touted for his athletic ability and big-play potential as a tight end, in Howard’s four years at Alabama, he would total 1,726 yards at a whopping 15.1 yards per catch with seven touchdowns.

So far that big-play ability has carried over to the NFL. In Howard’s 29 NFL games, he’s totaled 1,138 yards at 16.0 yards per catch with 11 touchdowns. However, many in Tampa are wondering why Howard has been featured so little in the offense? Through the first five weeks of this season, he has only 11 catches and just 14 targets.

Buccaneers’ head coach Bruce Arians has mentioned that Howard is just not getting open consistently enough as the reason for his lack of opportunities in the passing game. Meanwhile Howard is surprised to see that his opportunities have been decreasing. So perhaps a fresh start for both parties would be best at this point.

Howard has shown that he can line up out-wide or inline, which LaFleur expects out of all his tight ends and he’s been a solid blocker over his career as well. Once again, another crucial aspect of being a successful tight end in the LaFleur offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Howard has an average pass-blocking grade of 69.5 over his first two seasons and a run-blocking grade of 57.4 during that same span.

If Howard did end up joining the Green Bay Packers, they would be getting a very team-friendly contract as well. Howard is due a base salary of just $1.977 million in 2020 and has a fifth-year option for the 2021 season. Given the cap space that the Packers have left in 2019 as well as what they have projected to be available in 2020, this is a contract that they could easily make work.

With this likely being the final seasons of Graham and Lewis in Green Bay, the Packers will need to add another tight end at some point before next season begins and Howard’s contract gives them a proven playmaker at the tight end position and at a cost that isn’t going to break the bank by any means.

Adding Howard to this team would give LaFleur and quarterback Aaron Rodgers another big-time weapon in the passing game, which is needed at the moment. Gutekunst has already made a number of fantastic additions this offseason, but it might not be a bad idea to pick up the phone once more before the trade deadline and see what it would take to get OJ Howard to Green Bay.