Sunday OT: What's NEXT for the Packers after trading Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles?

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You are locked on Packers, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Peter Bacowsky and I cover the Packers for the Leap. A newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to. Thanks to everyone who makes Locked On Packers, their first lesson every day. We hope you like starting your day with us as much as we like starting our day with you here on the Locked On Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. Don Tavion Wicks has been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. Something we have been talking about on this program now for weeks. That is why we have a special edition of the Sunday OT on a Saturday, which also means we have to bring in our pal Brandon Snyde from the Locked On Packers Squad Show. Also locked on Brewers Postcast, locked on Bucks Postcast, which has, I'm sorry that you had to deal with that Brandon, that just sounds dreadful lately. But this is not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to what we've been saying on this show, what we've been writing about at the Leap, what you and I have talked about on Squad Shows. There's just a numbers problem for the Packers at Receiver. What did you think of this trade and the value that they were able to get? I'm seeing a lot of Packer fans. I guess it's probably not to any surprise that once again want the moon and the stars for every single player that's on their team. But I'm sorry that that, I think it's good value. And I know I'm the Packer plant. I know I'm the Goody guy and I know the deposit hit the account. But again, when you, he's a former fifth rounder, you got a fifth round draft pick this year. You got a sixth round pick next year. You have some clarity, I think in the receiver room as far as who you want to retain going forward as far as contract extensions. Correct. I would agree with you. And this isn't a knock on wicks because I think the skills are certainly there. The tools are definitely there. They haven't been all put to UCF, Peter. But he had career lows in games played last year, career low in receptions, targets, yards, and touchdowns for the Packers to recruit. What they spent on him a couple of years ago in the NFL draft gives them a little bit more flexibility, a little bit more ammo. Gives them just a little bit more, right? For the draft for a team that doesn't have a first round draft pick this season, it gives them a little bit more for this upcoming draft. And they are loaded. They are boat loaded for 2027 for that draft already. I think this is a good value. And I think this, this, we all kind of knew this was essentially going to come. I think the surprise for me on any of it, if I'm being quite honest with you, is I didn't see the Eagles being the team that that the Packers. That's the thing. I was surprised by two. Yeah. So that's kind of where I'm at with that. But as far as value, I think, look, you've got good value. Like you drafted them in the fifth round or you've got a fifth round or you had them for three years. And by the way, the Eagles are paying him $12.5 million. Like, so not only are you not having to eat any of that contract, but you are, you are getting a draft pick and they are paying Don Tavion Wicks. I think he can be a really good player. I think it's got to, he's got to have a little luck fall in his lap, right? He's got to stay healthy. Like he certainly has the wiggle to be a really good wide receiver in the NFL. We just haven't, we didn't see it all be put together in Green Bay. Had some drop issues. But there's no doubt about this. What I like about this is it clears the path for Christian Watson. This clears the path for Jaden Reed. This clears the path for Matthew Golden. I don't think there was really any debate that, that Don Tavion Wicks might be in front of them, but there is no more confusion now. You know, those are your top three wide receivers going into 2026. So I think this is good for the Green Bay Packers as far as knowing, okay, this is who we have. And now we have the ability to potentially pay maybe one or both of the guys that are at the top of the list right now with Christian Watson and Jaden Reed, both of those guys on expiring deals this season. Not surprised. I think what the Packers got was good value. And I hate to break it to Packer fans, but you're not going to get a first round pick for every single player that you trade away. It's just not going to happen. Yeah. I mean, let's remember DK Metcalf, who is a much better, much more established player, still only went for a second round pick. So this is not like some crazy thing here. I think we have to remember too, like one of the things we talked about on the show is we talked a lot this off season. I think too much for some people's liking about comp picks, right? And the future, but they're going to add there at 2027 third, a 2027 fourth, a 2027 fifth, and a 2026th comp pick plus the fourth from Rashaan Gary, plus this pick now for Don Tavion Wicks. They have money to spend in 2027. So they're not worried about comp picks for 2028 next off season. They're going to spend the money. So if Don Tavion Wicks plays for you this year and then leaves, you get nothing. Correct. And this was the paradoxical relationship that they had at receiver was they needed one, but they didn't have room for one. Like if you look at the roster this year, one of these guys just had to go. And it obviously wasn't going to be Bo Mountain because they would never do that to Matla Fleur's son that way. But Matthew Golden and Savion Williams are under contract. They're the only guys under contract in 2027. We assume Christian Watson's going to get a deal. We don't know that for sure. So now you get value that you were not going to get for Don Tavion Wicks. I thought they could have waited maybe until the season, but if you do that, you already have to make your final 53 roster decisions. And so that makes this tough. When you look at this roster now though, Brandon, like you mentioned, it sort of, I use the word streamlines. It clarifies, I think was the phrasing that you used everyone's role. What kind of value do you think there is in that? I think there's a lot of value because we saw it last year where it just got muddy in certain moments where, obviously, you didn't have Christian Watson for the first eight weeks. You didn't have Jaden Reid after week two breaking his collarbone. And after that, Peter, just kind of like, you didn't really know. Like there was times where Matthew Golden shined a little bit. There were moments where Don Tavion Wicks or the Packers, we talked about, was just traded, that they were able to use his skill set, certainly in that the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit right before Jaden Reid comes back. But there was just no set roles, no set agendas for each one of these receivers. And I think now, I think everybody knows it. Christian Watson's that number one guy. Like I know Matt LaForest's favorite question every single offseason or every single training camp. But like now he knows, like that, okay, we know that's his guy. Jaden Reid's going to be your number two guy. I think this takes a little bit of pressure off of Matthew Golden as well. Not saying, by trading away a wide receiver, he automatically gets that number three spot or number two spot, depending on how you want it to fall. But now he knows the expectations for him in 2026 and beyond have been elevated a little bit. And the Packers are expecting big things out of him. And I think that in itself holds value in my opinion. These guys are able to identify now what their role is going to be. I will say this, and I hope this is true. I hope we can stop with the evolving door with wide receivers with Matt LaForest in the offense. Get your guys on the field and keep them there. And put them in a position to be successful. We didn't see that enough. To Goody and Matt LaForest's fault, I suppose you just had, you had a bunch of them, right? Like you had a ton of them that were good in certain moments. But now I think the roles are identified and they can now hopefully excel in those roles because they're not going to be looking over their shoulder. They're not going to be wondering, man, if I drop this pass, like Don Tavion Wicks is coming in or Jaden Reid's coming in, like now we know what their roles are. And oh, by the way, getting Tucker Kraft is also another reason probably why you traded away. Don Tavion Wicks and have him and coming back as well. So I think they're, I think they're set up for that just to have that clarity and to have those roles identified for each of those guys going into 2026. It's for them is going to be huge, Peter. But for Jordan Love as well. Now you just hope for the one thing that we can't control that they can't control. You just stay healthy this season. I have been advocating since the start of last season that they needed to just play their best guys. Just play your best players. Just play Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs and Jaden Reid. Like just do that. And it seemed like in the playoffs, they kind of did that. And Matthew Golden was on the field a lot. And I think that tells you about what they feel about Matthew Golden. They still for whatever underwhelming season you want to have to talk about him having. His underwhelming season was kind of right on par with all of Don Tavion Wicks' seasons. If you just look at the raw numbers. So what are they really losing there? And then here's the thing. I was looking at the Rich Hill trade value chart. We don't know right now as we record this, you know, just minutes after this trade was broke here. But the Eagles have two fifth round picks. So they have 153 and then they have a comp pick that 178. The trade value is not that different. But let's say even if it's the worst of the two, that could be enough to get Green Bay to move from 52 to 49, which could be valuable without giving up their own pick, or from 84 all the way up to 77 in the third round. Like that, there's real value in what you could potentially do there. And we know Brian Utikinst is not afraid. Jordan Love, Jair Alexander, Christian Watson, Arnold Savage, he will go up and get his guy. And now they've got a little more cushion with some ammunition. We talked about trading up on the Friday show on Lockdown Packers. Like I think this is the kind of draft where you can be aggressive with those, if those the weirdness of this draft breaks in your favor. Timing is everything because on Thursday night we talked about, you brought up the point about you don't think the Packers might draft at 52. And I thought, well, where do you think they're going to go up or down? And now you can go in one of those. I did say yes, by the way. I said that could be either. It's true. You did go back and listen wherever you get podcasts. And you're right. And now you have the flexibility if that guy, you know, if there's a cornerback, if there's a wide receiver, if there's a defensive tackle that falls in the, in the direction of the Green Bay Packers. And now Goody has that flexibility. And again, I will always tell people when it comes to the wide receiver position for the Green Bay Packers, and I think you would probably agree with this, Peter, most Packer fans probably would. Those are one of the few positions where I, where I blindly begin to trust the Green Bay Packers and being able to identify talent, being able to develop the talent, and then being able to utilize that talent. We'd like to see a little bit more of that, you know, putting your best guys on the field. And I think what, I think what Matthew Golden did, and you and I have talked about it. I know you have talked about it. I think what he did in Chicago gave the Packers the wild card game, which he was, Romeo Dobbs doesn't have a career day. He's the best receiver on that field during that game. I think what he did in that, in that postseason game gave Green Bay the confidence to be able to go, okay, we know he's the first one on traffic. We had to see it a little bit. We saw some inconsistencies throughout the season, but now he did it at Soldier Field on, on the big stage for the Green Bay Packers for that season. And he was successful doing it. We had, we were confident that we need to ship away one of these other wide receivers, and it happened to be Don Tavion-Wicks. All right. Where do the Packers go from here with this receiver room? We're with Brandon Sine on a Sunday OT on a Saturday. Next. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is, well, a lot. Trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient. Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year, you're getting a major upgrade into a TurboTax, now has in-person locations nationwide. You can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. And just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications as you go about your day. 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And listeners of this show will get $75 in sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium listing it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire. That's a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Most CRMs are clunky and slow down your team. It's time to switch to a new one. That's where pipe drive comes in. A simple CRM for growing sales teams. Seal your deals and customer info in one pipeline. It's powerful enough to grow with your business, yet simple enough for your team to love using it. Switch to pipe drive and join over 100,000 companies. Visit pipedrive.com forward slash audio to get started with a 30 day free trial. All right, back here with Brandon Snide on a Sunday OT, but it's a Saturday OT this week. Okay, so my first thought after I saw this, Brandon, was does this mean Jaden Reed is getting a contract extension? Where does your mind go on that? Do you think that is more or less likely, or do you think they're not related? I don't think they're related. I will say this. And you and I have talked about this. We brought it up on the squad show without question. Christian Watson is getting approached for a contract extension. Goody brought him up by name at the NFL owners meetings, right? You mentioned him going up in 2022 and going up. They tried going back into the first round that year. Minnesota wouldn't budge because they didn't want the Packers to have the fifth year option and whatnot. And it turns out he added anyway. But anyway, I'll digress. But I do think it's going to be Christian Watson. I think it's going to be Christian Watson. And I don't know if they're sold yet on Jaden Reed. Now, a week later, two weeks later, I can look like an idiot. I get it, but I don't know if they're yet sold on the durability of Jaden Reed. Now, last year, you give it, it was a freak injury on probably the best catch of his career, or at least out there, best catch of his career. And again, we too against Washington. But I think, I think without a doubt, it's related to Christian Watson. I think they're going, they want that to work out, whether that's the Alec Pierce deal or not. I think without question, I mean, I think Packers priority is, yeah, I think it's Christian Watson. I think it's Tucker Kraft. I think it's 1A, 1B. And obviously the injury to Tucker Kraft is something we'll monitor, you know, and they'll monitor going into training camp, going into the beginning of the year. I wouldn't be shocked if, if Tucker has sort of what Christian Watson had, like that one-year deal, don't rush back, don't make, you know, don't put too much pressure on yourself. But I think this is unrelated to Christian, but I think this is related to Jaden Reed. I think they're, they want to see before they're going to give out another big contract because there's so many other players lined up for contract extensions for the Green Bay Packers where, okay, if you want this, if we trust you're going to be able to do this, we need to see some consistency out of Jaden Reed. Now, Christian Watson, you could make the same argument with the injuries, right? But after Wee Gate, Peter Winsbest has been better than Reed's best though. I don't know if it's necessarily close. Like he was PFFs, one of the, a top five receiver for them from Wee Gate and On last year, and he just completely changes the way that offense looks, the way that offense feels, the way they operate. So I think this clears the room. The Packers have tons of cap space. They have 22.5 million as we do this show right now. June 1st, they'll get a little bit more with the Nate Hobbs contract. And next year, they're set up for success with a handful of contracts potentially being extended. And obviously the cap continues to rise. I think Christian Watson is absolutely going to get in, you know, get his contract extension, at least be offered a contract extension. But I think the wait and see is still out on Jaden Reed. Obviously, when you draft Matthew Golden, that changes things a little bit as far as what they can do and a little bit of more of the leverage, I guess you could say, for the Green Bay Packers. But is this also a, we've talked about this on this show. I know you've talked about it on the Daily Show. We've talked about it on the Squad Show. And now it's, now it's a neat for the Green Bay Packers entering the 2026 draft. We mentioned that a guy falling in front of their laps or potentially going up and get or maybe falling behind in the draft, like, could a receiver now realistically be on the table at 52 or sooner? I think you have to say yes. I think you do. It's going to all depend on what their available options are. Right. What I am frustrated with is what is going to be the perception now, Brandon, that this was a move aimed only at the future and not for now. And I just don't see it that way. I just don't. And you have to be able to hold two things that are true at once. The Packers were a more talented roster with Don Tavion Wicks on it. But I think they can be a better team without him because of what it clarifies for them. And because of what it just like sometimes, I feel like this was true of Mike McCarthy too. Sometimes Mike McCarthy needed fewer of his shiny toys to just streamline the offense a little bit. And I feel like Matt LaFleur has always been at his best. Don't you think this is true, Brandon? Like the offense without Devontae Adams was as, was just the same egalitarian style. He was dialing everything up schema. Aaron Jones scoring sluggo touchdowns against the Kansas seven one record that year without him. Yes. It was something wild. Yes. They were unbelievable without Devontae Adams. And so it like, and with Jordan Love, right? Without, without Jordan Love, they have been able to win and have successful offenses. That is Matt LaFleur. I just feel like he gets a little lost in the sauce, trying to get everyone in and trying to get a little too like just, just call the offense, dude, like just make it, keep it simple, stupid. It is, it is a cliche for a reason. And I think that is actually what Matt LaFleur was talking about at owners meetings when he was talking about stripping it down and acting like it's year one. Like let's just get back to the basics, man. And that means playing your best damn players. And I think this just, it just makes it so much easier. It also though you mentioned Jaden Reed. I mentioned Jaden Reed first, but I could see, okay, not in training camp, but October, November, if it looks like Savion Williams is just not it. And that could be right. Like that was, that was, that was a heat check, I think, from the backers, they were just sort of like, yeah, you want to see something and like, they did a cannonball off the high dive and it could work out or you could end up with a throat full of water, right? Like that could be one of those kinds of things. And maybe he's just not it. And you go, they don't have like Matthew Golden can play from the slot. He can be dangerous from the slot, soaking Christian Watson, soaking Tucker Kraft. They don't have a just spit the ball out to him in the middle of the field and let him go make explosive plays like Jaden Reed. Tucker Kraft can do some of that, can split the seam and do all those things. But like at a receiver position, a guy who could turn a five yard over route into 50 Christian Watson can do that too. But in terms of like the scheme touch game and all that stuff, end arounds and jet sweeps and orbit motion. It's Jaden Reed. And really that's it. So I could see them saying, look, it turns out this swing we took with Savion Williams is not working out. Let's lock Jaden Reed in. And we've seen Jaden Reed be really good in this offense. Like we've seen him be really, really good 2024. Jaden Reed was, I think you can make the case the best receiver, maybe even wide receiver one on this team. And so like the idea that he's injury prone because he got hurt one time, it just not does not align with the facts here. I know that you do not get as deep in the weeds with the receiver stuff in the draft generally. But is there a type of receiver? You don't have to give me a name, but is there a I can maybe give you a name if you build me a type like let's play a little dating app game. Is there a type of receiver you'd like to see the Packers bring in? Well, Christian Watson, as it sits right now, right? They're only receiver only six foot, right? I suppose like I think Jaden Reed and Matthew Golden are probably well, Savion Williams is six four, but six of the starting group out of the three. Yeah, I cannot help. And I've said this before on the show. I have fallen in love with Bryce Lance. Like I have fallen in love. You did say that with that type of receiver that can go up and get that 50-50 ball that can that can beat you in so many different ways. And obviously the NDSU, you got Noah Pauli now there in Green Bay as the wide receiver coach, like it's the Christian Watson success route, you know, from NDSU to Green Bay. I have fallen in love with Bryce Lance and obviously Ted Hearst is another one. One of those guys that's going to go up there and is give me that ball type of attitude. That's the one thing I think this Packer team needs. And we got it with Tucker Kraft, right? From the receiver position. I don't know if Jaden Reed and Matthew Golden fit that mold, you want Christian Watson to fit that mold because my God, he's, you know, built from heaven. Like you're able to be able to go and do whatever you want to do on a football field, like go make it happen. We just don't, we haven't seen it yet. I want to type a receiver that mental, that dog that just is going to go out there and I'm like, I'm going to get this ball and there's nothing you can do about it. Ted Hearst is that guy. I don't think there's that guy, man. Ted Hearst is that guy. And again, I think this is back in play for the Green Bay Packers in round two. I really do. And I think if that, if maybe you get into those mid forties, upper forties, as you mentioned, if one of those guys falls, and I think, I think there's a possibility that they both are there, that Brian Gunnickens uses one of those picks or one of those picks in 2027. Those are the two guys that I have fallen in love with as far as the NFL draft goes as far as adding them via draft, because those are the guys Bryce Lance with the speed and the size with him and Christian Watson and Matthew Golden on the field. I don't know how you defend those two round low craft and Ted and Ted Hearst is in that conversation too. So I know you're talking about building one, but those are the two that I immediately go. You had names, you had names ready to go. Yeah, those are the two I go to. I don't think you need to use 52 to get one of those two guys. I don't think so either. But I think again, I don't know how it's going to be based on consensus right now based on, you know, Tod McShay's mock and the beast and those kinds of like Lance has fallen down a little bit for whatever reason. Ted Hearst has fallen down a little bit for whatever reason. I don't understand it. I think they're both very good players. I happen to like Ted Hearst significantly more, but I like Lance the speed and playmaking is obvious. I think at 84, like that's kind of the sweet spot to me because it sounds like Dejan Stribbling is going to go earlier than we thought. And so maybe you can't wait until the fourth round, but maybe you can get a really good corner, let's say in the fourth round or a defensive tackle in the fourth round. Let's say you get one of your top needs, DT corner. I think corner at 52 is still probably where they're going to look. Then you got to wait because there just aren't any other defensive tackles. Like if Dominique Orange is off the board in the third round, you're kind of SOL with defensive tackle, then in the fourth round, like if they, if we just, if we just wish cast it here for a second, Brandon, let's say in the second round, they find a corner that they like. We Malik Muhammad, Dylan Everett, there's a lot of different guys that it could be in that range. And then at, at 84, you get Ted Hurst and then you get Caleb Proctor in the fourth round. I mean, let's go. Where's the wall so I can run? Exactly. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. So I like this, this is where the draft is the strongest between two rounds, two and four. Then adding a fifth round pick allows them to have some maneuverability going into all those places. And I think they can really solidify what they've got going here. Go ahead. Let me ask you a quick question. Let me turn this right back on you. And I know it's your show. Do you think Goody saw this as far as like the talent, you know, in these drafts, not being the top tier in that first round, when he decided to trade away those two first round picks in order to acquire might not, you probably would do it anyway for Michael, right? But like the dropout, like there's, and there's a lot of rumors, a lot of whispers that a lot of teams are looking to kind of move out and move back in this draft and grab more picks because the talent is more evenly spread. It's not top heavy. Like we saw in years past, you think that is something that the Green Bay Packers took, took notice in when they're looking at these, these prospects? I think it helped. I think it helped. Like, you know, it's a little bit like, you know, you're, you're planning a vacation and you're just sort of like, okay, well, there's a, there's a 10% lesser chance of rain at, you know, this time versus the next week, like they were going to go on vacation no matter what. But it's now it's about the timing. Like I think it probably was a fringe benefit. But usually we think of quarterbacks. That's usually when front offices are looking like, okay, do we do invest in quarterback this year or next year? And everyone agrees next year is the year to need a quarterback. The Packers don't. So I think they knew going into the season because you've already got some of the reports on rising seniors and those kinds of things. But it, I think that was just more micropartens is micropartens and you just do, I don't, it could have been the 2014 draft. And I think they would have said, yes, please, we'll take micropartens. Thank you very much. And then, oh, no, you miss out on drafting Haaklin Dix, but instead you get micropartens. Like they do that 500 times out of 500. All right, we're going to have instead of the Sunday OT on Sunday, we will have an episode of goodies guys. The Sunday OT on Saturday this week, Brandon, appreciate you jumping on early with me to get this all ironed out on Tavion Wicks. Now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles subscribe to the podcast wherever you get podcast, subscribe on YouTube, watch us live. We're live three times a week now on the Lockdown Packers channel, two squad shows, our Sunday OT. We've got draft plans, all kinds of great stuff. Subscribe to the podcast. I said wherever you get podcasts, me and Brandon on the socials. Come find us on the socials wherever you are on socials. And as always, stay locked on Packers. Under the price cap. With Next Pledge, your energy prices are guaranteed to always stay below the price cap. Satisfy those savings cravings. Check out our full range of tailored energy solutions at EonNext.com forward slash save. EonNext, we make energy savings work. Next Pledge is a 12 month fixed time trucker tariff with variable rates lower than Ofchamps price cap for standard variable tariffs direct debit required, T's and C's apply. Most CRMs are clunky and slow down your team. It's time to switch to a new one. That's where Pipedrive comes in. A simple CRM for growing sales teams. Seal your deals and customer info in one pipeline. 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