NFL trade rumors: Packers eyeing tight ends at deadline

The Green Bay Packers are looking to add a tight end as the NFL trade deadline approaches.

After losing Robert Tonyan for the season with a torn ACL, the Green Bay Packers are expected to pursue a tight end in the lead-up to the 2021 NFL trade deadline.

Green Bay has won seven games in a row and is arguably the hottest team in the NFC right now. They just beat the last undefeated team in football on the road in the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. However, Green Bay may not win the NFC for the first time in well over a decade if superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers does not have a trusted tight end to throw to.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler listed four tight ends the Packers might have some interest in pursuing: Evan Engram (New York Giants), Hayden Hurst (Atlanta Falcons), Jordan Akins (Houston Texans) and Jacob Hollister (Jacksonville Jaguars).

What are the chances they end up striking a deal for any of these four available tight ends?

NFL trade rumors: Green Bay Packers are in the market for a tight end

Green Bay is targeting tight ends from the right teams to potentially pursue a trade with. All four of these teams are sub-.500 and are not expected to make the playoffs. While Engram and Hurst were former first-round picks coming out of the SEC, they have not lived up to their draft statuses. As for Akins and Hollister, they are more of the under-the-radar trade targets worth pursuing.

Of the four tight ends potentially on the market, Hurst seems to be the most expendable. Atlanta used its No. 4 overall pick on tight end Kyle Pitts last spring. Hurst is on the last year of his rookie deal and did not receive a fifth-year option. Given that he was picked up by a previous front office in Atlanta, he could be the tight end that makes the most sense for the Packers to go after here.

If the Packers do not come up with a tight end to replace Tonyan, the front office did not do its job.