After seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers, defensive lineman Rashan Gary is starting a new chapter in his NFL career following his trade to the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas was in on the Maxx Crosby trade sweepstakes, but after the Baltimore Ravens landed the defensive end (and later backed out of the deal), the Cowboys pivoted and traded for Gary.
To acquire Gary, Dallas parted ways with a fourth-round pick at the 2027 NFL Draft. It seemed like a good deal for Green Bay, especially since it was already expected to let Gary go. The Packers would have released him for nothing, so getting something in return was an admirable work for Green Bay’s front office.
Packers GM looks back on Gary’s trade to the Cowboys
Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst revisited the Gary trade on Monday and said the team would not have pushed through with the deal if they felt the Packers were not satisfied with what they would get in return.
Here’s what Gutekunst said when asked whether he was surprised that the Packers got a fourth-rounder in exchange for Gary (via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic):
“It was tough to part with Rashan because he’s such a good player. But I think just where we were going as a football team, it made a little bit of sense for us. Quite frankly, I think a guy with 60 pressures, 7.5 sacks and a guy you can kind of count on consistently, there’s not a lot of those guys in the National Football League. He’s still a pretty young player, probably his best football is still ahead of him. Not at all (surprised). We weren’t going to move on from him unless we could get something that made sense for us.”
Selected by Green Bay in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Gary played for 106 games in Packers colors, recording 46.5 sacks, 271 total tackles, seven forced fumbles and six passes defended.
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
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