Green Bay Packers made ‘strong run’ at trading for a top Raiders target

In a desperate attempt to find Aaron Rodgers weapons at the trade deadline, the Green Bay Packers tried to make another deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

As the dust settled after the NFL trade deadline passed, one of the more significant storylines that emerged was the fact that the Green Bay Packers stood pat.

As the season slowly slips away, many believed the Packers would use the deadline to acquire much-needed receiving help for Aaron Rodgers. That help never arrived and will now have to come through free agency, which will be an equally difficult field to stand out in.

For all that has been made about the Packers inability to find Rodgers top receiver help, their failed quest at the deadline wasn’t for a lack of trying. Chase Claypool was closely linked to the Packers in trade rumors before eventually being dealt to the Chicago Bears. Both the Packers and Bears made an offer of a second-round pick for Claypool with the Steelers opting for Chicago’s pick betting that it’ll be higher.

Brandin Cooks was also on the Packers radar according to the rumor mill but a deal was never made. But Green Bay’s desire to find help for Rodgers extended beyond the widely reported rumors and involved a team they’d already made a deal with this offseason.

Packers tried trading for Darren Waller at NFL Trade Deadline

According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero from NFL Network, the Packers reportedly made a run at trying to acquire Darren Waller at the trade deadline but were turned away by Las Vegas.

Sources say Green Bay made a strong run at Raiders star tight end Darren Waller, attempting to acquire the dynamic offensive weapon at the deadline. For Las Vegas, Waller was deemed too valuable to deal, especially because they just signed him to a three-year, $51 million extension on Sept. 10.

This has to be particularly frustrating for fans in Green Bay, and not only because a deal was never made.

A  big reason why the Packers are in this situation is due to trading away Davante Adams, who was Aaron Rodgers top target and one of the best wide receivers in the entire league. Rather than give him a new contract, the Packers traded him away to the Raiders in March believing that they’d any old receiving corps the front office stitched together could work with some Rodgers magic applied to it.

That bet had badly busted.

Injuries and inexperience have plagued the Packers offense and resulted in one of the worst starts under Rodgers.

Odell Beckham Jr is the best option in free agency, and he knows it. OBJ is being pursued by contenders like the Chiefs and Cowboys, with a possible Giants reunion on the table. Green Bay was in the mix earlier this season, but as their season slips away the likelihood that Beckham would hitch his wagon to a car with its wheels flying off seems low.