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The Green Bay Packers were wheeling and dealing in the 2018 NFL Draft, moving down from No. 14 to No. 27 in a deal with the New Orleans Saints and then climbing back to No. 18 to take Jaire Alexander.
The second deal sent third- and fifth-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks, although the Packers received a seventh-round pick in return.
ANOTHER TRADE! #Packers receive pick No. 18 & No. 248 from Seattle in exchange for No. 27, No. 76 & No. 186.#PackersDraft pic.twitter.com/Tgtm30mRIi
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) April 27, 2018
The net for the Packers was essentially the addition of a 2019 first-round pick and a shuffle of late round picks to go down four picks and get a starting cornerback.
Why did the Packers make the trade?
In the first deal, the Packers received the No. 147 pick. Altogether, the team shuffled mid-round selections but added a first-round pick next year and still got a starting quality cornerback.
That’s huge for the Packers after trading away Damarious Randall — easily the team’s top cornerback in 2017 — to the Cleveland Browns earlier in the offseason.
Green Bay took Kevin King a year ago, but cornerback was still very much a position of need and Alexander is as capable as any in the draft class at stepping in and starting right away.