Packers’ rumors: Odell Beckham Jr. and D.J. Moore?
The Green Bay Packers have slept-walked their way to a 3-2 start to begin the season and have fans closing in on hitting the panic button (if they haven’t already). Could an injection of talent help their cause?
General manager Brian Gutekunst always does his due diligence. Throughout his tenure, Green Bay has been linked to several trade and free agent candidates. They have rarely hit, but it appears they’ll have another opportunity with free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and trade candidate D.J. Moore of the Carolina Panthers.
Beckham Jr. went through a similar song and dance last season before signing with the Los Angeles Rams. He improved every week and was their second-best weapon behind Cooper Kupp by the season’s end.
The Green Bay Packers have recently been connected with two wide receivers on the rumor market: Odell Beckham Jr. via free agency and D.J. Moore via trade.
Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl while he was simultaneously tearing up the competition. An ensuing surgery and recovery led him to remain on the free agent market.
However, he’s getting close to a return. Beckham Jr. believes he’ll be ready by the middle of November and recently endorsed a list of teams he’s interested in playing for. In a Twitter exchange with Marcus Spears, Spears shared five teams he believes Beckham Jr. would be interested in playing for: The Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers. OBJ responded with, “we see eye to eye.”
Another candidate to add to the Packers’ roster is Carolina Panthers’ receiver D.J. Moore. The Panthers could be on the verge of a firesale after firing their head coach and defensive coordinator. They only have five draft picks next year and need to re-tool with some additional selections. Could Green Bay entice them with an early pick?
Moore was a first-round selection in the 2018 draft and is coming off three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. However, he only has 17 receptions for 197 yards and one touchdown through five games this season.
A change of scenery could be exactly what he needs and he’d have another year of team control if the Packers were to trade for him. The salary is an entirely different issue, as my colleague Paul Bretl wrote about.
The Packers like their young receivers in Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs so it’s unclear if they’d be willing to stunt their growth by bringing in another veteran. Adding another playmaker might be several notches down on their priority list–defensive and offensive playcalling have to be on the top.
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Still, with Green Bay moving all of their chips to the middle for the immediate future, it might be helpful for them to add a proven playmaker on the outside. It would make life easier for Aaron Rodgers and company.