Don’t expect the Packers to trade for Patrick Peterson, but it would be fun

“We’re not trading Patrick. That’s out of the question.”

Poor Steve Wilks, first-year head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, had to deal with Adam Schefter reporting All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson “desperately” wants to be traded just minutes before Wilks was scheduled to meet with the press. According to Schefter, Peterson feels the situation in Arizona is getting worse and has officially asked the team to deal him.

The Cardinals have no incentive to deal Peterson, who remains one of the top corners in the game and has been one of the most dynamic defensive playmakers in the league over the course of his career. He’s under contract at a reasonable price through 2020 and would only be owed $5.825 million of salary if the trade happens after Week 8’s games, according to former agent and salary cap expert Joel Corry.

All the reasons needy teams would call for Peterson’s services—he’s really good and a relative value at his pricetag—are reasons for the Cardinals to simply stand pat.

In other words, let’s just all agree it’s not happening. All that being said, we at APC are not against dealing in unlikely hypotheticals just for fun and because we know fans want to talk about something, so let’s talk about it.

Green Bay possesses the requisite cap space to deal for Peterson (though not by much) and the need. Mike Pettine’s defense ranks just 28th in defending No. 1 receivers by DVOA. Kevin King, when healthy, looks like a legit impact corner, as does Jaire Alexander, but Tramon Williams is in the twilight of his career and Josh Jackson isn’t quite ready. Sure, Bashaud Breeland makes this an extremely deep secondary in which they’ve invested considerable resources, but none of those players are as good as Peterson.

That’s as simple as it gets.

One potential solution would be moving Tramon Williams to safety, a much-discussed change given the struggles there for the Packers this season, coupled with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s impending free agency in 2019. If they wanted to get really crazy, Mike Pettine and Co. could move both Williams and Jackson to safety, allowing each of them to take advantage of their supreme instincts and ball skills.

You want your GM to make the team better. That’s his job. So they could figure out the rest. If the Packers legitimately had a shot at Peterson (they don’t, because no one does), they should consider it and make a real offer. There’s no question he makes them better.

But they won’t trade for him because no one is trading for him.