Trades are a big part of roster movements in the NFL. Each team has made trades that have changed the fortunes of their franchise, whether that be for the better or the worse. The Green Bay Packers are no different.
Throughout their history the Packers’ front office has made a number of trades that have turned their franchise around and rewarded them in the best way possible. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there have also been some trades that didn’t pan out the way they intended, and some that are outright terrible. Today we will look at the three best and three worst trades the Green Bay Packers have made in their franchise history.
HM Worst/Best: Packers trade up to the 26th overall pick to select Jordan Love
Some people have this trade as one of the worst of all time. Drafting a quarterback in the first round, let alone trading up to draft a quarterback in the first round when you have Aaron Rodgers under center raises a lot of questions. Many fans will say this trade is one of the worst; however I am here to say that as it stands, this trade has potential to be one of the best the franchise has made.
Put away your torches and pitchforks for a second and hear me out. Obviously we don’t know how good Jordan Love is just yet; however, this trade could still be seen as a successful trade as it currently stands. In the 2020 draft, the Green Bay Packers traded the 30th overall pick and a fourth round pick to the Miami Dolphins for the 26th overall pick. With that pick the Packers drafted Utah State QB Jordan Love. Already, trading up four spots in the draft and only giving up a fourth rounder in the process for potentially the next franchise guy who gets to sit behind a future first ballot Hall of Famer for a couple years is worth it.
Even if Jordan Love doesn’t pan out, let’s look at what has happened since that draft pick. Rodgers in 2019, and the offense in general, had a subpar year by what we’ve come to expect. Rodgers barely cracked the 4,000 yard mark, threw 26 touchdowns and four interceptions, had a 95.4 passer rating, and at the time a career worst 52.5 QBR.
One could argue the trade-up to draft Jordan Love lit a fire under Aaron Rodgers. In the two years that followed, Rodgers threw for 8,414 yards, 85 touchdowns, nine interceptions, a passer rating of 119.7, led the league in QBR, won back-to-back MVPs, made back-to-back first-team all-pro, and was given two Pro Bowl nods.
While an argument could also be made that drafting a receiver available at that time, like Tee Higgins, could’ve helped the Packers get over the championship hump in 2020. However it’s hard to imagine drafting Jordan Love didn’t at least drive Rodgers to play at his absolute best to prove management wrong. If Jordan Love does develop to be a franchise QB for the Packers, then this trade will be seen as one of the best in franchise history.
3rd Worse: Packers trade Terrell Buckley to the Dolphins
When a trade between two teams occurs, it’s likely players or picks being swapped in exchange for one another. In April of 1995, the Green Bay Packers traded away a player to the Miami Dolphins and got nothing in return for him.
For context, in March of that same year, the Dolphins traded pro-bowl tight end Keith Jackson and a fourth round pick to the Packers in exchange for their second round pick. Buckley was drafted by the Packers with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft. Buckley underperformed in his three years with the Packers, and many considered him a bust, including the Packers front office.
As a result, a week after they traded for Jackson, the Packers traded Terrell Buckley to the Dolphins. Who or what did they get in return? Nothing. The Packers traded Buckley to the Dolphins for “past considerations”, which essentially means they gave Buckley to the Dolphins as a “thank you” for the Keith Jackson trade.
So how did that trade work out? Keith Jackson went on to become an underrated star, becoming one of only two players in NFL history to record 50 interceptions in a career without being named to the pro-bowl. Buckley would spend five years with Miami, before bouncing around the league to end his career, during that time he would win a Super Bowl with New England.
While Buckley didn’t perform well with the Packers, he went on to become a pro-bowl caliber player for multiple other teams, so trading him, a player you spent a first round pick on, for nothing is a mind-blowing decision.
3rd Best: Packers trade RB/KR Glyn Milburn to the Chicago Bears
Kicking off our list of the best trades in Packers history we have when the Packers traded RB/KR Glyn Milburn to the Chicago Bears. Milburn, who the Packers acquired from the Lions months prior for a conditional 1999 draft pick, never made it out of preseason as the Packers had a solid kick returner already in Roell Preston, and was traded to the Bears prior to the ‘99 season for the 213th overall pick in the seventh round.
Milburn would be a solid player for the Bears, earning a Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro nod as a return man in 1999 breaking the franchise record for return yards until Devin Hester came along. Some may think the Packers got fleeced, but the Packers return man, Roell Preston, was an all-pro kick returner in 1998, the season following the trade. This compared with who the Packers selected with the pick they got from the Bears, make this trade one of the better ones in Packers history.
In the 1999 draft, with the seventh round pick the Packers selected Alcorn State wide receiver Donald Driver. It took a couple years, but Donald Driver broke out to be a star wide receiver for the Packers. In his 14 year career with the Packers, Donald Driver made three pro-bowls, had 61 touchdowns on a franchise record 743 catches and 10,137 yards. Donald Driver was a key part of the vaunted Packers receiving corps of the late 2000s and helped the Packers to win Super Bowl XLV.
The Packers got one of their best wide receivers in franchise history and one of the most underrated ones in NFL history thanks to trading away a player they didn’t need thanks to the all-pro play of their current return man. Getting a great player in a trade with a division rival is always a plus as well.
2nd Worse: Packers trade Matt Hasselbeck for picks
In March of 2001, the Packers looked to trade up in the draft. The Seattle Seahawks needed a quarterback, following multiple years of sub-par play from their undrafted QB Jon Kitna. The Packers elected to send their first round pick, which was the 17th overall pick, and Brett Favre’s backup of two years in Matt Hasselbeck to the Seahawks in exchange for the 10th overall pick and their third round pick (72nd overall).
With the picks the Packers got from Seattle, the Packers drafted Florida State defensive end Jamal Reynolds with the 10th overall pick and Oklahoma linebacker Torrance Marshall with the 72nd overall pick. Neither of these picks panned out, Reynolds was released from the team after two disappointing seasons and Marshall was nothing more than a special teams player.
On the other side of the trade, the Seattle Seahawks got their QB of the future in Hasselbeck, and with the 17th overall pick, they selected future Hall of Fame, multi-pro bowl and all-pro guard Steve Hutchinson.
Hasselbeck and Hutchinson were key members of the Seattle offense for years to come, and were vital parts of the 2005 super bowl squad. Hasselbeck would make three pro-bowls as QB of the Seahawks, while Hutchinson would make three pro-bowls and earn three all-pro nods. Taking into account the Packers missed out on one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history and completely whiffed on both of the picks they got in the trade, the Packers got fleeced in this trade, and it shapes up to be one of the worst in franchise history, in my opinion only being beat out by one other trade.
2nd Best: Packers trade for Ahman Green
Prior to the 2000 season the Packers traded a sixth round pick and cornerback Fred Vinson to the Seattle Seahawks for running back Ahman Green and a fifth round pick. Green became the immediate starter for the Packers and excelled as their RB1. Green had 1000+ rushing yards in every fully healthy season, earned a second-team all-pro nod and four straight pro-bowl nods from 2001-2004. Green led the league in scrimmage yards and rushing yards from 2000-2004, and in 2003 he became the first player to record 1850 rushing yards, average 5.0 yards per carry, record 20 total touchdowns, and have at least 50 catches. Ahman Green is currently the Packers franchise leading rusher and is one of four players in NFL history with two touchdown runs of 90+ yards.
The draft pick and player the Packers gave up never amounted to anything in the NFL, Vinson suffered a torn ACL the following season and never played a down in the NFL, and the sixth round pick was used to select defensive tackle Tim Watson, who also never played a down. Trading away essentially two players who never played a down for the best running back in franchise history easily makes this one of the best trades in Packers history.
Worst: Packers give up a haul for Rams QB John Hadi
In the 1974 NFL season, the Packers sat at 3-3, a decent shot at making the playoffs and many considered them to be a quarterback away from making a serious playoff push, something they had done only once since Vince Lomnardi left the team. After a failed attempt to trade for Saints QB Archie Manning, the team elected to trade for the Los Angeles Rams QB Jon Hadi.
In order to get the Rams to trade him to them, the Packers gave up FIVE picks; a first, second, and third round pick in the 1975 draft, and a first and second round pick in the 1976 draft. Keep in mind, the Packers gave all of this up for a 34-year-old, BACKUP quarterback, who was past his prime. Not only that, but the Packers had just played and beat the Rams the week prior, a game in which Hadi started but was benched after an abysmal performance where he went six of 16 for 59 yards and two interceptions.
Hadi was just as much of a disaster for the Packers. Hadi only played for the Packers for two seasons, and across those two seasons threw for a terrible 52.1% completion rate, 3167 yards, nine touchdowns, and a whopping 29 interceptions, for a passer rating of 53.2. The Packers would move on from him after the 1975 season.
The picks the Packers traded to the rams in exchange for Hadi resulted in two all-pro cornerbacks in Monte Jackson and Pat Thomas, taken with the second round picks in the 1975 and 1976 drafts respectively, a pro-bowl wide receiver in Ron Jessie, whom the Rams acquired from the Lions in exchange for the first round pick in the 1976 draft, and two other players who helped the Rams dominate the NFC West for the entirety of the 70s and make Super Bowl XIV.
This trade was so lopsided that when Hadi was asked about it, he himself expressed how shocked he was, stating he “didn’t think anyone would be that desperate.” Had it not been for the disaster that was the Herschel Walker trade, this trade would be considered the worst trade in NFL history, not just the worst trade in Packers history.
Best: Packers trade for Brett Favre
After back-to-back injured seasons to QB Don Majowksi, the Green Bay Packers traded their first round, 17th overall pick in the 1992 NFL draft to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for their second-year second-round QB Brett Favre. In his rookie season, Favre only attempted four passes, completed none of them, and two of which were intercepted, one for a touchdown.
As we all know today, Favre would completely turn things around for Green Bay, winning three MVP awards, one super bowl, earning one OPOY, three first-team all-pro, three second-team all-pro, 11 Pro Bowl nods, and finished as Green Bay’s leader in passing yards, attempts, completions, and touchdowns.
For Atlanta, they drafted Favre in the second round with the 33rd overall pick, but after one year developed a sour relationship with the young QB and decided it was best to move on. With the 17th overall pick they got from the Packers, the Falcons then traded that pick and a fourth round pick to Dallas for their 19th overall pick and a higher fourth round pick.
The Falcons used the first round pick to select running back Tony Smith. Due to the head coach of the Falcons at the time being furious with selecting a running back rather than a defensive back in the first round, Tony Smith only saw action his rookie season before never playing a down on offense the next two seasons.
With him and their fourth round selection Frankie Smith never playing a down either, the Packers easily fleeced the Falcons with this trade, and pulled off the greatest trade in their franchise’s history.
