NFL Trade Rumors: Packers Wanted Darren Waller, D.J. Moore and Chase Claypool

The Green Bay Packers didn't make a major addition to their passing game ahead of the NFL trade deadline, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the team "made aggressive attempts" to land Chase Claypool and Darren Waller. According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Green Bay also inquired about the availability of D.J. Moore but was rebuffed by the Carolina Panthers.

Claypool was the only one of the three to change teams, as the Pittsburgh Steelers shipped him to the Chicago Bears for a 2023 second-round pick.

Schefter reported the Packers were willing to send their second-rounder and another late-round pick to Pittsburgh, but the Steelers thought Chicago's lone second-rounder presented more value.

The reports are unlikely to lessen the frustration fans are feeling about Green Bay's inactivity. They might even have the opposite of their intended effect since they come off as a clear attempt to shift the narrative.

If nothing got done, then it doesn't really matter whether general manager Brian Gutekunst turned over every stone in the hunt for another wideout.

There might be some nuance required, though. The Athletic's Mike Sando reached out to an NFL talent evaluator who said the exacting standards of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers may have complicated the situation:

"There is so much there (in Green Bay) that we don't know when it comes to Aaron Rodgers and his wide receivers. It is almost like, 'Why would we spend premium draft capital on someone the quarterback probably will not like?' That is what it comes across as to me. Rodgers plays a part in it, too, like nobody is good enough. They can't please him."

Whatever the reason, the Packers are poised to finish 2022 with Allen Lazard and rookie fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs as their two best receivers, an outcome that's bound to please nobody.