Green Bay Packers: CBS Sports Proposes a Trade for Kenny Stills

Cody Benjamin over at CBS Sports proposes a trade that would land the Green Bay Packers wide receiver Kenny Stills from Houston.

After last season’s inconsistent performance from the Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver unit, addressing that position was one of, if not the biggest perceived need that the Packers had this offseason. However, as we all know that isn’t exactly what happened.

With limited spending power in free agency, Green Bay would take a chance on Devin Funchess who is coming off a 2019 season where he spent most of it on IR. Although Funchess would total over 800 receiving yards in 2017 with Carolina, he is still a bit of a wildcard and we don’t really know what to expect.

Meanwhile in a draft loaded with wide receiver talent, to the frustration of many within Packer Nation, they did not select a single one with any of their nine picks.

For a team coming off a 13-3 season with a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2019, the expectations for Green Bay don’t seem very high heading into the new season. Along with not addressing the receiver position, they’ve been picked apart by many for how the rest of their offseason went as well.

However, if you’re still holding out hope that the Packers are going to add a receiver before the season begins, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has proposed a trade that would land Green Bay Kenny Stills, who has been rumored to be available.

In this scenario, the Green Bay Packers would send Houston a 2021 fourth-round pick and in return, they would receive Stills and 2021 seventh-round selection. Here is what Benjamin had to say about the trade:

"“Stills would be the perfect fit as a downfield threat, and while Houston could certainly use him, Bill O’Brien loves himself a trade. He’s also reconfigured the WR room enough that Stills and his $7 million cap hit have been deemed expendable.”"

So with this trade, there are two main questions that arise. The first being, should the Packers do it? And the second is, will the Packers do it?

With a receiver room in Houston made up of Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, and Randall Cobb, Stills is very likely the fourth option and the odd-man-out. However, Stills is just 28-years-old and could give the Green Bay Packers – or any team for that matter – a reliable deep threat. Which after the ups and downs we saw from Marquez Valdes-Scantling in 2019, the Packers are in need of.

Stills was drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by New Orleans and over his seven-year career with the Saints, Dolphins, and most recently Houston, he has totaled just under 4,700 receiving yards at an excellent 15.7 yards per catch with 36 touchdowns.

While we would love to see Still’s career catch rate of 59.7 percent be higher, some of that is due to playing with underwhelming quarterback talent for much of his career in Miami and also it’s the nature of the position when you’re a downfield target. Simply the odds of completing the pass become less.

But last season with the Texans and a very good quarterback in Deshaun Watson, we saw Stills efficiency and playmaking ability sky-rocket. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), on passes of 20 yards or more in 2019, Stills caught 66.7 percent of those throws on 15 targets for 346 yards and five touchdowns.

On passes between 10 and 19 yards, he caught 12 of the 13 thrown his way for another 170 yards.

For comparison’s sake, in Green Bay, Valdes-Scantling caught just 5/19 passes over 20 yards last season and only 5/10 that fell in the 10 to 19 yard range. While Allen Lazard was much better on the intermediate routes, he still only caught 5/16 passes over 20 yards.

In a recent call with reporters, Matt LaFleur mentioned that in 2020 the offense has to be better at “creating more explosive plays.” Especially as the offense transitions more to what LaFleur visions. That means more play-action with plenty of shots downfield. It’s going to be crucial that Aaron Rodgers has a reliable target this season.

And at least from a productivity and efficiency standpoint, it’s hard to argue that Stills wouldn’t come in and be an upgrade over Valdes-Scantling as the big-play receiver.

As far as the cost to acquire him, a fourth-rounder is a bit more than I would have expected, although Green Bay does get a seventh-round pick in return. But we also have to keep in mind that after losing players like Bryan Bulaga, Blake Martinez, and Kyler Fackrell in free agency, the Packers could net three compensatory picks in the 2021 draft according to Over The Cap. Thus lessening the loss of losing a fourth-rounder to acquire Stills.

Now having said all of that, to answer the second question, no I don’t think the Green Bay Packers are going to trade for Kenny Stills.

As part of their transition to LaFleur’s offense, that means more 12, 21, and 22 personnel on the field this season, and less of the three, four, and five wide at receiver that we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.

While it’s always nice to have depth, it’s not as necessary as it once was for Green Bay at this position. And given how free agency and the draft played out, I think it’s pretty clear that LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst are comfortable with who they have on the roster already.

Not to mention that the Packers are fairly tight against the salary cap as it is.

So while it’s a fun thought and an intriguing offer that Benajmin made, it’s not something that I’d be getting my hopes up for.