The first six weeks of the Packers’ 2022 season haven’t gone as hoped. Calling it a disaster might be overstating things, but calling it merely a disappointment might be too far in the other direction. It’s been bad, and things have to get better quickly and significantly for improvement to matter at all.

Adding talent won’t fix all, most, or many of the Packers’ problems, but raising your talent floor is never a bad idea and the Packers have a unique need at wide receiver.

Barring some isolated bright spots (Romeo Doubs getting open regularly, Allen Lazard’s steady production), the position group needs help. Randall Cobb is hurt, and Sammy Watkins is only just coming back from an injury of his own. Neither one should be counted on to stay healthy for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Christian Watson’s injury situation has been so precarious that he’s already teetering on the brink of a lost rookie year. 

The Packers essentially have two receivers they can count on right now, and that’s just simply not enough. But to make matters worse, they only have three receivers under contract for the 2023 season. Lazard, Cobb, and Watkins are all free agents after this year, meaning the Packers will likely have to draft at least one receiver next spring even if they bring Lazard back.

I think that all adds up to a situation where the Packers should be more open to trading for receiving help than they otherwise would be. Adding talent can help right now while also stabilizing the receiver room next year while leaving the door open to drafting someone should the board fall in an advantageous manner.

But who should they add? Ideally, someone who checks the boxes of being young, athletic, productive, and affordable, but we can budge on a couple of those.

Packers fans seem to have latched onto Carolina’s D.J. Moore as the main object of their desire this year, and in a lot of ways, that makes sense. He’s a terrific athlete, he’s been productive in Carolina, and he’s only 25. He’d be by far the best addition the Packers could make to their offense but for one thing: the Panthers just signed him to a contract extension about seven months ago. To say nothing of how much their attitudes would have to have changed to trade him now (you loved him half a year ago but want him gone today?), the cap logistics probably don’t work. I think it’s best to take Moore off any prospective wish lists.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t candidates. The Giants’ Darius Slayton, for instance, might be worth exploring.

He, like Moore, is a great tester, and has shown the ability to produce in the right circumstances. He was also on the periphery of the Giants’ offense until they absolutely had to have him, indicating that he might be available for the right price. The downside on Slayton is that his contract expires after this year; he’s not really an option as far as any long-term receiver room stabilization in Green Bay.

That’s not the case for Kendrick Bourne, though, who is under contract through 2023 and carries a cap hit of just over $6.9 million next year. Bourne has produced in both San Francisco and New England and is especially good in run-after-the-catch situations, a staple of Shanahan tree offenses like the Packers’ run. Though not an elite tester, he’d still likely be a good fit for the role Randall Cobb occupied until he was hurt, and having him on the field would keep Amari Rodgers off it.

Finally, I think Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool is too interesting to ignore. Like Bourne, he’s under contract for 2022 and 2023, like Moore, he’s an elite athlete, and like Slayton and Moore, he’s been productive, even with a noodle-armed Ben Roethlisberger. Yes, there have been some bone-headed moments, but there aren’t going to be any perfect candidates when you try to make a trade-deadline acquisition. Plus, he was very likely on the Packers’ radar in 2020 as they tried (unsuccessfully) to move up in the second round before ultimately selecting AJ Dillon.

Again, trading for a receiver isn’t going to solve all of the Packers’ problems. But getting the right guy could help the Packers both now and in the future, and adding a proven commodity with a Day 2 or Day 3 pick is a great decision when you have the opportunity to do so.