Green Bay Packers trade veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers turned out to be a seller and not a buyer at the NFL trading deadline.

Less than a half hour before the 3 p.m. deadline arrived, general manager Brian Gutekunst traded cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills.

The Packers are sending Douglas and a 2024 fifth-round draft pick to the Bills for a 2024 third-round pick.

Douglas has started all seven games this season and has 32 tackles and an interception. The 28-year-old veteran was a mainstay in the secondary, playing every snap while others around him such as safety Darnell Savage, cornerback Jaire Alexander and cornerback Eric Stokes missed time.

Douglas became a regular soon after being signed off Arizona’s practice squad on Oct. 7, 2021. After securing four interceptions in 12 games, including a game-clincher against the Cardinals, the Packers signed him to a 3-year, $21 million deal on March 19, 2022.

Before this season, they restructured his contract to lower his cap number.

Douglas was an extremely popular player among his teammates and the media, and wasn’t afraid to chew out teammates on the field or speak his mind in the locker room. He was well-respected and often held court with teammates at his locker after practice or games.

But 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes is an experienced starter and 2023 seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine is someone the coaches are high on and want to develop, so Gutekunst was willing to roll the dice for a third-round pick. Stokes hasn’t played in a year because of foot surgery and hamstring issues, but he is expected back from injured reserve in several weeks.

In the short term, they could run into trouble.

Starter Jaire Alexander has been in and out of the lineup due to a back injury and had a poor performance Sunday in his first game in three weeks. Valentine would likely start in place of Douglas, and, if Alexander couldn’t play, Corey Ballentine, recently signed from the practice squad, would be the other starting corner.

Given the Packers are playing the Los Angeles Rams and their outstanding receiver trio of Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell on Sunday, they could be in for a long day.

After securing nine interceptions in his first two seasons, Douglas’ production wasn’t nearly as great this year, and he had given up his share of big plays. In addition to his 32 tackles and an interception, he gave up three plays of 20 or more yards, two of 40 or more yards and was responsible for 2½ touchdown completions.

In 2022, he gave up six plays of 20 or more yards, one of 40 or more and 4½ touchdowns.

After playing much of last season in the slot, defensive coordinator Joe Barry kept him outside opposite Alexander and went with Keisean Nixon inside. Douglas’ best game was against Las Vegas when he helped hold receiver Davante Adams to four catches for 45 yards.

Douglas had one more year left on his contract and was due a $2 million roster bonus in March. If the Packers had decided to pay that amount, they would also be committing to a $6.25 million base salary.

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Douglas will count $3.36 million against the cap next season because the Packers had pushed four years of signing bonus proration into the future with their contract restructures. The Packers will gain about $860,000 in cap space in 2023 with the removal of Douglas’ remaining base salary and per-game roster bonus.

In 36 regular-season games since joining Green Bay, Douglas had 28 starts, 10 interceptions – two of which he returned for touchdowns – 32 passes defended, 160 tackles, seven tackles for loss and a quarterback sack.