Real talk: This game feels like it was about a decade ago. But that was the night that Rasul Douglas flat out broke the Arizona Cardinals as a franchise. Heading into that game the Cardinals were undefeated and staring down the #1 seed in the NFC. Then Rasul made them bleed their own blood. Since that pick? The Cardinals are 9-26 and hitting the reset button on their team.
Welp, we speculated on the podcast that the Packers would probably listen to any and all offers for the small number of veterans they possess at the NFL’s trade deadline yesterday. I thought Preston Smith might get an offer, De’Vondre Campbell, hell even Aaron Jones. You’re not giving him the ball anyway, may as well get some draft capital for him. Rasul was not a name I was thinking of, but it made sense to trade him for all of the same reasons it would have made sense to trade any of those guys.
The sad reality for the 2-5 Packers at this point is that they’re just not a very good team at the moment. I was as optimistic/delusional as anyone coming into the season. I thought if Jordan Love could be as good as crappy-Aaron Rodgers from 2022, that this team might be able to win 8 or 9 games and battle for a wild card spot, just like last season.
Jon, you ignorant slut. The truth of the matter is that the Packers are in salary cap hell, have the youngest team in the league, and have a quarterback starting for the first time in his NFL career. They need a talent infusion at a LOT of spots. So when it comes to things like the trade deadline, you start to look around the locker room and try to figure out who is going to be here the next time this team is going to be a playoff team (2024? 2025? 2092?). In all likelihood, Preston isn’t going to be here. Neither will De’Vondre, probably not Aaron Jones, and Rasul is likely on that list as well. So if you’re not winning this year, and possibly not for the next year or two, if you can get draft picks back for some of your veteran players, you have to do it.
And that’s what happened with Rasul. Look, I’m kind of bummed to see him go. He certainly made his fair share of mistakes, but he also had 10 interceptions over the last three seasons (3rd most in the NFL in that timespan). He was also a leader in the locker room, and seemed to earnestly be trying to find ways to turn the team, and the defense, around. He gave a sh!t. Tough to see a player like that move on.
It also means that we have to retire one of the audio clips we would play on the morning show if Rasul made a big play in a Packer win:
It’s seamless editing like that that make the B93 Morning show the 7th best in the market. Not bragging, just stating facts.
Anyway, I’m sort of surprised that was the only player the Packers dealt, but they now sit with their own first round pick in 2024 (right now the #5 overall), two second round picks (Rodgers/Jets pick), and two 3rd rounders.
PS: When you get a chance to let Gutey get an extra 3rd round pick, you absolutely must do it. The guy is money in that round. Not just any GM can find gems like Oren Burks, Jace Sternberger, Josiah Deguara, Amari Rodgers, or Sean Rhyan. Let Gutey cook.
