Should The Packers Have Traded For Sheldon Richardson?

The Green Bay Packers pass rush is usually a concern and the idea of acquiring a defensive lineman who can play inside or outside, is great against the run, and has some pass rushing skills is an exciting idea. Instead the Packers watched as the Seahawks traded for Jets's DL Sheldon Richardson:

Wow! The rich get richer. Richardson is something the Hawks haven't had on an already dominant D. A dominant DT w/legit rush skills. Scary! https://t.co/iU9SLg2Jaw

— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) September 1, 2017

The Seahawks gave up WR Kearse and a 2018 2nd round pick for Richardson. I'll ignore the swap of 7th round selections (a small get for the Seahawks). The salary cap should not have been an issue, the Packers have over $21 million of space and Richardson's cap hit to the Seahawks is just over $8 million. Do the Packers have the assets to make a similar trade?

A 2018 2nd round pick. GM Ted Thompson doesn't trade picks but he did have that pick available, and just like with the Seahawks, it should be late in the 2nd round. It's against his nature to trade a pick for a player, but this was technically possible.

WR Jermaine Kearse. Is this a salary dump or do the Jets need a receiver? The Jets receiving corp is a disaster and if their front office thinks Kearse is the answer, I feel sorry for Jets fans. Kearse is terrible and overpaid ($2.2 million cap hit for the Jets). For the Packers to have surrendered a receiver like Cobb or Adams would have been an overpay (based on Kearse's value) and it's too close to the start of the season to mess around with one of QB Aaron Rodgers's top 2 or 3 receivers anyway. If this was just a salary dump, the Packers don't have any salary they're looking to dump, so the Packers might have made this trade look better by not asking the Jets to take anyone back.

DE Dean Lowry. He probably would have lost his starting spot to Richardson. Though he's currently nursing a sprained MCL, he doesn't need surgery and he should be back soon (maybe not Week 1), so the Packers didn't need Richardson to replace Lowry. Also, they're expecting big things from him in his 2nd season and might not have even viewed Richardson as even an improvement over Lowry.

Richardson "has been a headache off the field." I always think of him as the guy who pretended to be Rex Ryan and called a timeout in a game against the Packers. I think talent is much more important than the ability to be a great teammate, but he wouldn't be bringing any intangible people skills to the locker room.

Richardson is a free agent after the season. Would he even consider re-signing in Green Bay? Surrendering a 2nd round pick for one season of Richardson, who they might not even think is better than Lowry, would be an awful result.

I really like the idea of adding a Pro Bowl defensive lineman on a defense that could use some help and the cost of a late 2nd round pick isn't terrible, but digging deeper, if Richardson would only be a rotational lineman for one year at the cost of a high draft pick plus a useful WR (if the Jets required a receiver in addition to the pick) that would have been too much and more than the Seahawks paid. I was initially disappointed at the idea of missing out on Richardson, but standing pat was probably the better decision.