Report: The Commanders tried to trade up for Packers’ Jordan Morgan

Washington may have been one of the teams that offered Green Bay a trade back opportunity.

Draft analyst Tony Pauline reported on Friday that the Washington Commanders attempted to trade back up into the first round of the draft with Arizona tackle Jordan Morgan — who the Green Bay Packers picked 25th overall — in mind. It appears that the NFL was very interested in Morgan, as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted yesterday that Morgan was on his shortlist of players that the team was considering drafting at the 24th overall pick.

Earlier this week, I reported that the Washington Commanders would try and trade back into the back end of Round 1 for Jordan Morgan, and that’s exactly what they attempted to do late last night, albeit unsuccessfully. I’m told Washington worked the phones with teams that held picks in the mid-to-late 20s, hoping to move up and draft Morgan.

Speculation is that they were attempting to move to the Lions’ pick at 29 for Morgan, but Detroit eventually moved ahead of the Packers and selected Terrion Arnold, which took a top target for Green Bay off the board before they selected the offensive lineman from Arizona themselves, dooming the Commanders’ plans.

The 29th pick is an interesting slot, as it was one selection before the Baltimore Ravens — a team that has long been rumored to be interested in Morgan and actually was the team to work him in drills at his pro day — were set to make their first pick.

It’s possible that the Commanders even called the Green Bay Packers, as general manager Brian Gutekunst stated last night that most trade-back options they fielded put the Packers in a situation where they’d drop out of the first round entirely. Obviously, that wasn’t something that Green Bay wanted to do.

The latest rumors claim that the Packers are actively trying to trade up to the early picks in the second round from pick #41, their first of four selections on Day 2 of the draft. It doesn’t appear that trading back is in Green Bay’s plans at the top of the draft.