Curd is the Word: Don't Be a Trader
Do trade rumors ever go away?
By GregMeinholz
Let me start by wishing any mothers scanning the words of CHTV today a Happy Mother's Day. A special thanks to my wife, the mother of our three children, who always does an amazing job of holding down the fort when my brain drifts off into Packerland. And of course, my mother, who helped nurture my young Packers fandom and made sure I never missed wearing Packers gear at school on a green and gold Friday, or a victory Monday. I wouldn't be here if not for you both.
After the NFL Draft, you hit a lull in NFL news for the next two months until Training Camp begins. Sure, you have rookie camp and OTAs, but unless your team makes a move or something, you don't have a lot to talk about. Recently, Steelers, Cowboys, and Saints fans have had some news to chat about as Pittsburgh traded WR George Pickens to Dallas for draft picks, and it was announced that Saints QB Derek Carr will be calling it a career due to injury. No athlete should have to cut their career short for health reasons, no matter where they are in their career. Hopefully, Derek Carr can find peace in whatever he decides to pursue moving forward. The Pickens trade to Dallas, though, was not a surprise to many, and it seems like Pittsburgh isn't willing to have two highly paid and vocal wide receivers. This trade has, however, sent a ripple effect around the league with many thinking the Steelers are not done.
Romeo Doubs
It was not at all a surprise to see a wide receiver drafted high by the Packers in this year's draft. With Christian Watson expected to be out most of the 2025 season with his and Romeo Doubs' rookie contracts expiring at the end of the campaign, the team would have been wise to invest in an early receiver pick. Surprisingly, though, they drafted two. One in the first round, and one in the third round. Had they drafted WR Matthew Golden in the first round and then not touched the position until day 3, it would've been less noteworthy. You would see Matthew Golden as the Christian Watson quasi-replacement for the first half of this season, and then a day 3 pick as kind of an "outside looking in" receiver looking to maybe take snaps and a roster spot away from Bo Melton or Malik Heath. But instead, that second rookie receiver is a day 2 pick. This means he's making the roster. That means he's going to be given his fair share of chances to be not just WR5 or WR6, but even WR3 or WR4.
Heading into training camp, though, it begs the question: the Packers already have a good weapon in Jayden Reed, and Dontayvion Wicks seems like if he can get over the case of drops he had occasionally in 2024, he could be a big threat himself. If you have Golden running at the third receiver, and Savion Williams, that 3rd round pick sitting around to make a number four, where does that leave Romeo Doubs? He will contribute this season as he is still a reliable target for Jordan Love, but with the team likely to put a lot of stock in the new picks and with Doubs approaching a contract season, where it's anyone's guess if he's resigned, why not trade him?
After football, my sports allegiance lies with hockey. In the NHL, if a team has a player that they are most likely parting ways with at the end of the season, they are very likely to look to trade them at the trade deadline before their contract expires. That ensures the team doesn't just lose that decent player for nothing. We see this every once in a while in the NFL, however, the NFL has a perk called "compensatory picks," where if a team loses a player to free agency, they can be compensated with a late-day 2 or day 3 draft pick. Some teams may prefer to have the player play out their contract and grab that compensatory pick, but then some are willing to ship them off immediately to get a return immediately.
A lot has been said lately about the Packers looking to trade Romeo Doubs. While this makes sense on paper, it implies that the Packers have already made the decision that Doubs will not beat out the younger players on the roster and is not worth a second contract. Which is likely untrue as his chemistry with Jordan Love is very clear, and that will be needed in the first half of this season.
If Doubs is healthy, his reliability in the passing game is too valuable to just cast aside. Regardless of how high a receiver is drafted, most of them need to gain some experience before they really take off. Doubs will cover those opportunities early in the season while the young players get acclimated. The middle of the season, though, will determine Doubs' future. If he's been productive and has been one of the Packers' top receivers, I can't see them trading him away as they won't want to ruin that team mojo heading into a playoff push. But if he's been average at best, the Packers may put the feelers out to see what they can get for him at the trade deadline.
It's been said that the Steelers will be signing Aaron Rodgers, and that Aaron Rodgers liked Romeo Doubs, so the Steelers might come knocking to trade for him. But, it's going to take an offer the Packers can't refuse to move Romeo Doubs at the beginning of the season.
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Greg Meinholz is a lifelong devoted Packer fan. A contributor to CheeseheadTV as well as PackersTalk. Follow him on Twitter @gmeinholz and Bluesky @gmeinholz.bsky.social for Packers commentary, random humor, beer endorsements, and occasional Star Wars and Marvel ramblings.
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Comments (40)
GregC
May 11, 2025 at 05:58 am
I haven't heard anything about the Packers "looking to trade Romeo Doubs." I think you could've phrased that differently. I've just heard a couple people say that trading Doubs right now would make sense. I don't think so. Although there's a good chance that Doubs will be gone after this season, they need him this year. If the rookies end up taking snaps away from him as the season goes on, that's fine. But maybe that won't happen, and right now Doubs and Jayden Reed are the team's most important receivers.
Guam
May 11, 2025 at 07:41 am
I'm more concerned with Doubs' health than I am with trading him. He missed time last season due to concussions and his last concussion was incurred while he was wearing the Guardian cap and with no contact with an opponent. It appears he is concussion prone and a repeat of that situation in 2025 will end his career.
Other teams must be aware of his concussion problem and that likely negates much of any trade value he might have even if the Packers would consider trading him. Next year is not only a contract year for Doubs, but a prove it year health wise for him. I suspect he will either bring a compensatory pick for the Packers or be retired by this time next year.
Packerpasty
May 11, 2025 at 08:00 pm
I think your correct...I'd say one more concussion and he retires...almost inevitable if he is concussion prone...if there is such a thing...
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 09:11 am
Exactly. You don't throw away productive starters. Media speculation is not a good look here. Zero word from 1265 Lambeau re any desire to trade Romeo Doubs. So where does this 'football judgment' come from that allows 'pundits' to stir up a trade for which there is no news story, no unfolding events, no sources prompting the 'headlines'. And what GM in their right mind would make that trade, given the need for continuity, until the 2025 WR room proves out.
Oppy
May 11, 2025 at 01:21 pm
All the speculation about trading Doubs came from a Pittsburgh beat writer who said he's heard rumblings that the Steelers were interested and asking around about Doubs' availability- supposedly because Aaron Rodgers "likes" Doubs..
Nothing more, nothing less, as far as I can piece together.
So, unsubstantiated rumor from a Pittsburgh beat writer (with no source), to runaway speculation that the Packers are looking to trade Doubs. Sports writers take the initial, unsubstantiated report and start running wild with it everywhere. Once the first 'report' breaks, nobody cares about facts- they use the original report as the basis for their own speculation without doing any of their own homework on the validity of the report.
This is the kind of thing that occurs all the time in sports "journalism". It doesn't mean it might not be accurate, but it certainly doesn't mean it is.
dobber
May 11, 2025 at 06:44 pm
The sheer number of crappy "Packers net former All-Pro in trade" type pseudo articles where some person or bot generates a "story" for the sake of clicks in the swipe media is mind numbing and terrible for us as consumers.
nagawicka
May 12, 2025 at 03:34 pm
Agreed. It also degrades the brand of this outlet, which bases its popularity on Cheesehead Culture and the Packers Way: the unerring Packers Fan cultural judgment & decades-long encyclopedic knowledge of how 1265 Lambeau gets it done, season after season. Which would NEVER get sucked into asinine speculation about Metcalf, Adams, and a half-dozen free agents the Packers never sought to sign. As you rightly observe! There's no point in chasing down bot-created stories-- to suss out or evaluate the flurry of NONrumors and deadend claims picked up and thrown at the wall for clicks. There are valid info streams out there.
nagawicka
May 12, 2025 at 03:37 pm
Oppy agreeing with you here. Pittsburgh sports blog & a Jets site both just heaped a bunch of unrelated facts together and called it something that was happening, or would, or was a realistic option, or that Aaron Rodgers had interest &etc., as you rightly point out, none of it worth picking up here and treating as credible.
HarryHodag
May 13, 2025 at 06:19 am
A couple of national reports linked Doubs to Pittsburgh. Pitt needs a second wide out and Doubs name was mentioned.
People have forgotten about his concussion issues. Those don't go away and he's a ticking time bomb from a health perspective.
Vachio
May 11, 2025 at 06:51 am
Honestly, I'm more worried about Doubs' health than anything else. The hit in the Philly that gave him the latest concussion was as tame as they come in the NFL and he even had the guardian cap on. Hate to say it, but he should seriously consider retiring before he takes a hit that will mess him up for life.
Guam
May 11, 2025 at 07:46 am
Should have read your comment before I responded to GregC!
HawkPacker
May 11, 2025 at 07:59 am
I agree V. He is an accident ready to happen and no one wants to see that!
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 11:14 am
Hopefully adding legit receiving threats & bolstering the OLine will drive LaFleur to design schemes that don't hang Doubs out to dry. If they're not going to Doubs just because they absolutely have to, decreases chances opposing Safeties etc will be able to load up for monster hits.
Oppy
May 11, 2025 at 01:24 pm
After watching Doubs get another concussion after falling backwards with no more than incidental contact while wearing the anti-concussion protective gear, I don't think the issue is about protecting Doubs from monster hits.
NickPerry
May 11, 2025 at 08:03 am
"It's been said that the Steelers will be signing Aaron Rodgers, and that Aaron Rodgers liked Romeo Doubs, so the Steelers might come knocking to trade for him."
Wasn't it Doubs that said Rodgers never really spoke to him? IIRC there was something Doubs said after Rodgers was traded to the Jets. It will be year #3 since Rodgers and Doubs were on the field together.
Hey, IF the Steelers actually do sign Rodgers then trading for Doubs does make some sense. I just don't think a team is really that much better off with OR without Doubs on their roster. He's closer to a JAG than anything else. But with his concussion history trading him NOW might be the better option.
Bearmeat
May 11, 2025 at 08:16 am
After the Jets fiasco, (heheh) Rodgers has no power to tell anyone what to do anymore. Even if they’re desperate. When healthy, he is now an above average QB with clearly declining skills.
And as for Doubs, he just wants money at this point. It reminds me very much of James Jones in 2010. Remember when he clearly didn’t want to be at the post Super Bowl party in Lambeau? That’s been Doubs since early in 2024. And, unlike Jones, the Packers have good options who are younger.
Doubs is gone. Probably not this year. But after this year. And bring on that comp pick!
Guam
May 11, 2025 at 09:18 am
"He's closer to a JAG than anything else. But with his concussion history trading him NOW might be the better option."
How much do you get in trade for a near JAG with a concussion history? Not trying to be a smartass NP, but how much can the Packers really expect to get given the current state of Romeo Doubs? As golfpacker1 states above, teams give up on players with injury history all the time. To trade you have to find a partner who will provide value for Doubs. Unless Rodgers waives his magic wand again, I don't see another team willing to part with much for Doubs given the concussion risk to his career.
The Packers may get more out of Doubs by playing him this year in his "prove it" year than they might ever get in a trade now.
NickPerry
May 11, 2025 at 11:16 am
"The Packers may get more out of Doubs by playing him this year in his "prove it" year than they might ever get in a trade now."
I think you're right about that, but I'm not sure just how much better if any he makes the Packers this season. I'd rather see more snaps going to Golden and Savion Williams than Doubs.
I'm also very concerned about Doubs health. He wasn't hit that hard in Philly and that concussion, at least while on the field, seemed way worse than the first one. Whether it's in GB or anywhere else, I hope he has a good season, stay's concussion and injury free, and makes himself some money for the future.
Guam
May 11, 2025 at 12:21 pm
Agreed that Doubs may just be taking snaps away from Golden and Williams this year and that certainly isn't beneficial in the long run and maybe not even be good in the short run. If Doubs has the dropsies again or is injured again, hopefully LaFleur has the sense to sit Doubs firmly at the end of the bench and give the rookies some playing time.
I suspect this may be Doubs last year in the league. Like you I believe that Philly concussion wouldn't have been an injury for most players and I am very concerned Doubs is too susceptible to concussions to play in the NFL. I wish him the best, but that may mean an early retirement.
If Doubs somehow avoids injury and has a good year, that only helps the Packers during the season and at comp pick time.
T7Steve
May 12, 2025 at 07:09 am
Per the article about Pittsburg "But, it's going to take an offer the Packers can't refuse to move Romeo Doubs at the beginning of the season." or any other time.
Pittsburg doesn't trade for players. They'll maybe sign a free agent here or there and trade one of their troublemakers, but otherwise they're a home-grown team and always have been.
justjan
May 13, 2025 at 08:59 am
D.K. Metcalf would like a word.
Leatherhead
May 11, 2025 at 11:17 am
He's better than a JAG, IMO,but I agree with your main point that a team isn't any better off with him.....except the Packers. He's an asset for us.
He's played in 43 out of 51 games, starting 35. He catches 3 or 4 passes a game, usually for a first down. He gives us about 600 yards of offense a season and a TD every third game.
I think he's been a solid starter for us, and a clear 'hit' of a draft pick in the 4th round. The concussions are very concerning, and I'm sure doctors have been involved in discussions that I don't know about.
Let's play Doubs this year. If he could line up for 35 snaps per game this season,, it'd be a help, more than any help that a draft pick in next year's draft would provide. We're already trying to replace the 550 snaps we got out of Watson last year.....do we want to replace the 650 that Doubs got, too?
Look, we are returning virtually everybody from last year on offense, and we were pretty good quite a bit of the time. We shouldn't go shooting holes in the boat so that we can plug them up with someone else.
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 11:48 am
@Leatherhead
1000% Let's see how the season unfolds. Pragmatic is the only way. In the NFL you never know if or WHEN a vet is injured (Watson), a prospect regresses (Wicks), or a draft pick doesn't take the starter reins instantly (Musgrave, Derrick Mayes). (for arbitrary example).
We NEED a lotta players because attrition will derail all but a few. None are as proven as Romeo Doubs, making his reliability & production valuable to us, but not so much to rival teams not running that system or having our roster. Training Doubs in the system and developing him alongside Reed, Kraft, Jacobs, and Love--I wanna see the return on investment there, throwing him away for 6 magic beans doesn't get a passing grade or even rise to the level of average aka incompetent NFL GM judgment.
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 11:23 am
Aaron Rodgers ignored Romeo Doubs and Rodgers' only response was that he attended team events. ZERO added motivation for trade. There's no personal relationship now and had been virtually no professional relationship then, going on Aaron's own words. Pretty damning.
Also fairly damning to those pushing to trade Romeo Doubs. What Rodgers wants has zero bearing on whether it's in the Pack's interest. It'd be an instant career-killer for Doubs. Exactly zero indications that Rodgers want such a thing were published. Why would he demand a WR he wouldn't even talk to? That he built no on-th-field relationship with?
It's incoherent.
*per article by ACME Packing Co
TKWorldWide
May 11, 2025 at 08:12 am
I agree, trade rumors pop up when there is nothing much to talk about.
NFLfan
May 11, 2025 at 08:40 am
Don't underestimate Love's reliance on Doubs. And, I can see many teams being interested in him.
Pretty certain Rodgers had some influence re: Picken's departure. I heard Lazard might be brought over.
LLCHESTY
May 11, 2025 at 08:57 am
This all sounds made up.
mnbadger
May 11, 2025 at 10:37 am
Yes, likely made up and equally relevant who cares?
GPG!
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 11:27 am
The second part, obviously. The first sentence is true on its face. Continuity matters. Love will need the security of a known quantity, and the on-the-field relationship Love has with Doubs provides the continuity Jordan Love needs to get out of his rut and into his groove.
LLCHESTY
May 11, 2025 at 09:02 pm
Based on last year Love would be better off looking to Kraft as his security blanket. He was more productive per target than Doubs.
nagawicka
May 12, 2025 at 03:10 pm
How so? That doesn't answer the point that Romeo Doubs stands as the most reliable clutch WR, and Tucker Kraft's success only complements that. It doesn't magically make it go away.
LambeauPlain
May 11, 2025 at 09:02 am
Love trusts and looks to Doubs. So he will get targets and receptions and is fearless going for the ball. He will put up numbers and if he "starts the season" well, no way he gets traded this season.
Before last season's two concussions, his last and only one on his record goes back to 2019 at Nevada. Is he prone? Has not been, but the two fairly close together last year needs watching.
And he will "start the season" as a starter with Reed and Wicks. The young man has 147 receptions and 1700 yards. You don't trade that production unless an offer is one they cannot refuse.
Golden will be first off the bench. Williams will get some snaps. That's 5 WRs for a team that runs as much as it passes...and has receiving talent at TE and RB. Watson is the wild card and if he continues to progress in rehab, I don't see them keeping 6 WRs since Heath, Hardman, Melton could be stashed on the PS for elevation options.
After this season, I can see Doubs getting a big deal if he has a good season. Doubt the Packers will prioritize re-signing Doubs over Tom and the two Walkers.
PackfanNY
May 11, 2025 at 09:37 am
I am more concerned with Doubs and his concussion history. That is a bad injury and its recurrence is concerning. No doubt Gute had this AND Watson’s availability when doubling down on the position during the Draft.
stockholder
May 11, 2025 at 10:12 am
The key words to any packers is:
When healthy!
I won't say what Gute should do-
But I'll tell you why these WR articles
keep coming up.
Gute has to trade Watson before Dobbs.
He signed Wyatt to his 5th year option,
to show he made the correct move.
Before blowing two picks on Watson.
(Also the move up for Van Ess.).
Thats Gute in a nut shell.
Trying to find the pea, while he shuffles the shells.
Showing you his hand, is faster than the eye.
Does a GM deserve praise if he hasn't won a SB?
The tar and feathers landed on the Rodgers.
Bet MLF is next.
packer132
May 12, 2025 at 06:53 am
Where do you get this stuff? Gute signed Wyatt to show he made the correct move? Showing his hand is faster than the eye? Since the Packers won the Super Bowl in 2011, there have been 22 of the 32 teams that have not. The Lions GM doesn't deserve praise for putting together a very good team? Green Bay tarred and feathered Rodgers? Some players excel beyond expectation after a few years in the NFL and others do not. Impossible to predict but I guess you can look inside your crystal ball and foretell which draft picks will pan out and which won't.
stockholder
May 12, 2025 at 07:09 am
Shit slides downhill.
It doesn't defy gravity.
Gute isn't security.
He's uncertainty.
What worked for him?
Was Aaron Rodgers.
nagawicka
May 11, 2025 at 11:07 am
Proposing trading Romeo Doubs to work with Aaron Rodgers is a crime. Doing it would terminate his career. Question is, What the hell did Romeo Doubs ever do to you?? [see Rodgers' effect on players' & coaches' careers] What a brutal, brutal refusal to take Doubs' interests into account here. Or consider the Packer's interest at all.
GregMeinholz got it right in that the Pack should demand *a haul* in return--and shouldn't make the trade for continuity until the season unfolds and we can see what we've got.
"It's been said that the Steelers .. " looks a lot like unsourced gossip. Okay, fine, but WHAT or WHO 'RODGERS *LIKES*' HAS ZERO BEARING on whether such a trade is IN THE PACKERS' INTEREST. It's not your job or my job or Gute's job to see to it that Aaron Rodgers is playing with guys he likes. Why would Gute even consider approving is at issue here; zero interest in Rodger's feelings, who has no say.
The further falsehood that Aaron Rodgers *likes* Romeo Doubs and wants to play with him is a pretty damning to the amateur sports color commentators who're all worked up putting in unpaid overtime. Doubs stated that outside team events, Rodgers did not hang out with Romeo even one time (w/o slamming him). Rodgers off-point reply was "it’s the same tired voices" when in fact Romeo Doubs was a brand *new* voice. This is pulling a Favre, who 'didn't know' Green Bay's draft picks, what with their newfangled cell phones etc, on the first day of camp. Didn't introduce himself. Just like Aaron Rodgers made it a point to NOT make it a point to introduce himself, like a real leader would, to invite the new guys into the fold, inclusion being the foundation team unity & victory on the field. Because these new kids play video games all night, Aaron just couldn't relate, the maverick thinker.
In fact, in his response Aaron Rodgers doubled-down on his preference for players past their prime. He wanted to keep Cobb, Lazard, Bahk etc, the declining veterans who couldn't get him over the hump -- and said so -- so Aaron liking old, familiar veteran friends is a strong indication Rodgers WOULD NOT be happy to play with a *still productive* player like Romeo Doubs, whom he doesn't know well, since he wouldn't fraternize with let alone invite to hang out, outside of team events.
'Analysts' contradict themselves: didn'a wanna let go of over-the-hill non-difference makers like lazard, cobb, mvs, and bakh, but the one still-producing, 1st-down generating, reliable WR we've got is to be treated as quick-out-the-door for dumping? Hanging on waayyyy tooo long to inadequate players on Aaron Rodgers' say-so was always poor judgment. Getting rid of baseline+ productive players still serving an effective role w/o the deep WR room we believed we had? Double poor judgement running in both directions.
2023/1/31/23580397/aaron-rodgers-responds-to-romeo-doubs-comments-with-pat-mcafee-green-bay-packers-update
bean
May 12, 2025 at 08:28 am
So, Romeo "I'm not getting the ball enough and don't like how the Packers are using me so I'm not going to show up" Dobbs is a trade candidate. Great leadership from your 2nd longest tenured receiver. Add that to the concussions and yes, if a good trade is offered, take it. After all, Wicks is Dobbs without the attitude. Dobbs is good but there are lots of Dobbs' out there. We just drafted two guys; one will leapfrog Dobbs immediately and the other will by the end of the season. If he stays, we'll get more of the attitude we've already seen because competition isn't his forte...and that isn't helping anyone.
Packman60
May 12, 2025 at 09:16 am
The Packers should listen to trade offers for Dobbs based upon their depth at WR and TE. While the author opposes this due to the compensatory draft pick that could be obtained iif Dobbs signs elsewhere after the 2025 season he misses the point completely that you don't automatically receive a compensatory pick from losing a player. Those picks are offset by any players the team would sign in free agency, so if the Packers chose to sign a notable free agent it would cancel out the compensatory pick they would otherwise receive for Dobbs. Plus even if they lost him and didn't resign anyone else, you're looking at a pick in the 2027 draft not the 2026 draft.
There is only one ball to go around and with the Packers depth you would likely see a repeat of last year when Dobbs was a no-show for practices and received a 1 game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team due to his unhappiness with that weeks game plan and his perceived lack of targets that would've been coming his way. If the Packers could obtain a 4th rounder for him, which is likely the best they could do with him only being under contract for one more year and his history of concussions they should jump on it.
HarryHodag
May 13, 2025 at 06:22 am
The Packers brass talked to Jayden Reed's agent after the draft since the team drafted a burner outside receiver and a gadget receiver, things Reed was doing.
The receiver room is full and while Gute might say it was a coincidence that two receivers come on board early, I think the coaching staff also thinks more can come from that group.