2.) Green Bay is a Small Market Team
One of the most significant factors as to why the Green Bay Packers struggle to bring in free agents or marquise players at the trade deadline is because it’s a small market team in the NFL. When you think of the prime spots to go, you’re thinking of New York, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, and Boston — cities where you can get paid while still having other things to do apart from playing football.
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, all you have is the Packers. Lambeau Field is quite literally the center of the city and as you walk around the streets and drive around town, you notice that the Packers are Green Bay. For players with big personalities, you want a life outside of football and that’s simply something you will not get here.
1.) Injury History and a Torn ACL… Twice.
ACL tears are a major, major, injury, especially considering how important it is to have sturdy knees when running routes as a wide receiver. Odell Beckham Jr. infamously tore his ACL while playing for the Cleveland Browns and was labeled as a risk when the Rams made the trade for him.
Then during last season’s Super Bowl matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, OBJ not only tore his ACL while running a route, but he tore the same ACL as he did when he was in Cleveland. The fact that he’s able to run at this point is incredible. To play in the NFL again in a significant role? That’s borderline delusional. This isn’t even considering the fact that he suffered a broken leg during his time with the New York Giants…
For any team to sign the receiver on for the rest of the 2022 NFL season is a significant financial risk. In order for him to realistically join a team, he would have to take a substantial pay cut so as to provide insurance to the team in the event he goes down again due to injury. The risk just simply outweighs the reward here.