Green Bay Packers: Trading for Odell Beckham still makes little sense

The conversation about trading for Odell Beckham was reignited yesterday, however, it still makes little sense for the Green Bay Packers.

Last season it was no secret that the Green Bay Packers needed another weapon on offense and Odell Beckham appeared to be quite unhappy in Cleveland. So as the trade deadline approached, there were rumblings that if any team was going to trade for him, it should be Green Bay.

Well, yesterday that conversation was reignited as Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic (subscription required) gave his 20 bold predictions for the upcoming NFL offseason. And as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, the Packers trading for Beckham was on his list. Here is what Kapadia had to say about the move:

"“General manager Brian Gutekunst was aggressive last offseason, signing Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos to bolster the Packers’ defense. Those moves helped get Green Bay to the NFC Championship Game. But Aaron Rodgers will be another year older – he turns 37 in December – and the Packers have to continue to take big swings while he’s still their starter.Gutekunst told reporters after the season that the Packers looked into trading for an “explosive offensive player” at the trade deadline, but it didn’t work out. This offseason is time to revisit those talks and see if they can pair Beckham with Davante Adams.The Beckham experiment in Cleveland was a massive failure, but new GM Andres Berry can at least get quality draft picks (maybe a first and a player or a first and a fifth?) in return for him with the focus being on building a consistently competitive team for the long term.”"

Of course, the idea of Beckham joining forces with Davante Adams and having Aaron Rodgers throw him the ball sounds incredible, but is it realistic or even the best decision? I say no.

Now, I’ll start by saying that I don’t care about any potential locker room issues that some might be worried about. Instead, my concerns lie with what it would cost to acquire him, what it would cost to keep him, and how that limits what the Packers can do elsewhere.

Unlike last offseason, the Green Bay Packers don’t hold the same spending power in terms of cap space. Spotrac has them currently with just under $22 million in available cap space for 2020. However, by moving on from Jimmy Graham and Lane Taylor they could free up an additional $12 million. But even then, their total cap space would still rank 21st in the NFL and that’s if no other teams make similar cap saving moves.

Meanwhile, Beckham already signed a lucrative deal in Cleveland after he was traded and he still has four years left on that contract with the next four seasons coming with cap hits of $14.25 million, $15.75 million, $15 million, and $15 million, respectively.

We also have to consider what Green Bay would have to give up to acquire him. As Kapadia mentioned above, it is almost certainly a first round pick along with a player or a mid-round selection on top of that.

Yes, wide receiver is a position that must be addressed this offseason, but it isn’t the only one. As we saw in the NFC Championship Game, the middle of the defense needs serious help at inside linebacker and finding Kenny Clark some help on the interior is a must. Not to mention that with Bryan Bulaga a free agent, at the moment the Packers don’t have a viable replacement for him on the roster. They also need more depth at the tight end and cornerback positions as well.

So I’ve said all of that to say this, I don’t mean for this to be a knock on Odell Beckham, he’s a fantastic player and in a perfect world I’d love to have him lining up with Adams.

With that said, given the other important needs that the Green Bay Packers have to fill, giving 40 to 50 percent of their already limited cap space to one player while also losing their first round pick, just doesn’t make much sense to me. Especially considering that this year’s draft class is absolutely loaded at the wide receiver position.