No, the Packers aren’t Trading for Odell Beckham or Allen Robinson

Reportedly, Odell Beckham and Allen Robinson could be on the trade block. But don’t get your hopes up, Green Bay Packers’ fans.

While most of us are still analyzing or soaking up the Green Bay Packers’ Week 1 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, elsewhere around the NFL, there are two very prominent wide receivers who could find themselves on the trade block.

The first being Odell Beckham, and this is far from the first time that we’ve heard he might be traded, but Mike Francesa would report that, once again, Cleveland is looking to trade the star receiver. The next report from Brad Biggs was that Chicago Bears’ receiver, Allen Robinson, has asked about the possibility of being traded after being unhappy with how contract negotiations are going.

Now, I don’t feel the need to go into detail about the numbers that these two have put up over their careers, as they speak for themselves. And although the thought of having either of these receivers lined up across from Davante Adams certainly sounds like a lot of fun, I’m also here to tell you that this isn’t Madden and that it’s not happening.

For one, and perhaps the biggest reason, the financials just don’t work. We are all well aware by now that the Green Bay Packers have been tight against the salary cap this offseason, which is why they had to go bargain hunting in free agency, and the situation isn’t improving in 2021.

As it currently stands, Spotrac has the Packers with $9,084,540 in available cap space, so not a whole lot to work with. They may have given Kenny Clark his extension, but the Packers still have four other valuable free agents to make decisions on as well. Of course, this group includes David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Kevin King, and Corey Linsley.

We also have to consider that depending on how this season plays out, the salary cap could drop as low as $175 million in 2021 due to lost revenue from COVID-19. For reference, this year’s cap number is at $198.2 million.

So Green Bay doesn’t have much cap space, they have their own free agents to contend with, the salary cap could drop, and as you’d expect, Beckham and Robinson are making a lot of money. Beckham’s deal with Cleveland runs through the 2023 season and comes with cap hits ranging from $14.25 million to $15.75 million along the way.

Meanwhile, Robinson is in the final year of his deal, but he comes with a cap hit in 2020 of $15 million, and he’s in store for another big pay day.

There’s also the cost to acquire each of these players. When it comes to Beckham, Francesa would say that the Browns are asking for “a lot.”  Then back in February, Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic (subscription required) would mention it taking a first-round pick and a player as well to get the deal done. But in all honesty, that seems on the light side.

With Robinson, I can’t imagine a world where the Bears trade one of the NFL’s better receivers to the Packers unless Green Bay is willing to part with 12 first-round picks. Of course, I’m kidding, kind of. But you get my point; it would take a King’s ransom.

Lastly, as we’ve seen all offseason through how GM Brian Gutekunst handled free agency and how they went about the draft, the Packers are quite comfortable with the receiver room that they have.

If Gutey went through this entire offseason with Devin Funchess being the biggest addition at receiver after the unit underwhelmed in 2019, I don’t envision him trading away premium draft capital to put another big contract on the books when Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling just combined for 159 yards at nearly 20 yards per catch with two touchdowns against Minnesota.

As I mentioned at the beginning, would either of these players be a fun new addition for Aaron Rodgers? Absolutely. However, for the three big reasons that I’ve highlighted, it’s not going to happen Packer fans.

So get on board with Lazard, Valdes-Scantling, and the rest of the crew behind Adams, because that’s who Gutey is rolling with.