The Packers were close to trading for one of the league’s top tight ends to potentially make an unstoppable duo with Aaron Rodgers.
With Aaron Rodgers set to leave Green Bay for the New York Jets this offseason, the Packers enter would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” territory thinking about what they could have done to convince the legend to stay.
Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were barreling down a collision course within mere months of Rodgers signing his mega-extension that made him the highest-paid NFL player on an annual basis. At the time, Rodgers was helping the franchise continue to legitimately compete for a Super Bowl by reducing his cap hit for 2022, but it turns out Rodgers missed his star wide receiver, Davante Adams, too much.
As Rodgers struggled to generate chemistry with his rookie targets until the end of the season, the Packers had enough of Rodgers’ obstinacy and petulant attitude, and Rodgers had enough of his franchise’s playoff-missing mediocrity. Both sides (doesn’t matter who was first) probably wanted to move on.
To play a short game of “What if?”, what if the Packers had gone out and traded for then-Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller? Would Rodgers have played better and looked more like his 2021 MVP self? Would he forget all about Adams and retire as a happy Packer?
Packers almost traded for Darren Waller in 2022 season
On The Pat McAfee Show, the reputable source of all Rodgers-related news, agent Drew Rosenhaus discussed Darren Waller’s market last offseason and claimed the Packers were among the two teams interested in trading for the star tight end. The Miami Dolphins were reportedly also in the race.
Green Bay already had a fine pass-catching tight end in Robert Tonyan, but Waller’s consecutive 1,000-yard season in 2019 and 2020 trump anything Tonyan has accomplished.
Of course, Waller’s injury history also has to be factored in — Waller missed a handful of games in 2021 due to various injuries, and he ended up missing another handful in 2022 due to a hamstring issue.
Had he joined Green Bay at the start of last season, there’s no telling what his production would look like, or whether he could generate chemistry with a well-known prickly persona like Aaron Rodgers.
Waller ultimately stayed put in Las Vegas for 2022 and was moved to the New York Giants this year for cheap compensation.
The Packers currently have a bit of a tight end conundrum after Tonyan left in free agency, yet looking back, they probably don’t regret their decision and may in fact have avoided disaster by passing on such an injury-prone target.
The era of trying to please Aaron Rodgers is firmly behind them. The Jets have to stroke that man’s ego now.
