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Trading places Packers acquire Green, Seahawks' fifth-round pick
Posted: Saturday April 15, 2000 12:07 AM
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Looking to improve their special teams and offensive backfield depth, the Green Bay Packers acquired kick returner and running back Ahman Green from the Seattle Seahawks on Friday for defensive back Fred Vinson. The trade also involved a swap of late-round draft picks. Green Bay got Seattle's fifth-round pick, the 151st overall, in exchange for the Packers' sixth-round pick, the 185th. The Packers quietly have been trying to trade up in the first round of Saturday's draft all week. They reportedly held discussions with Baltimore about acquiring the fifth overall pick, and they now have several late-round picks with which to sweeten a deal.
Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf said he wants to pick a defensive lineman in the first round, and his object of desire is Florida State defensive tackle Corey Simon. Simon is generally considered the second-best defensive lineman in the draft behind Penn State's Courtney Brown, and he will probably be gone by the time the Packers' own first-round selection comes up 14th. The Packers have 14 selections, including one in each of the first three rounds, three in the fourth round and four in the seventh and final round. Green played sparingly on offense for the Seahawks in his first two seasons since joining the team from Nebraska. He has mostly been used as a kickoff returner, where he has averaged 22.8 yards on 63 career returns. Vinson was one of the three defensive backs selected by Wolf in the first three rounds of last year's draft. A second-round pick whose playing time in last year's minicamp was limited by foot injuries, he never fully caught up to fellow rookie DBs Antuan Edwards and Mike McKenzie. Vinson was used most often as the sixth defensive back in Green Bay's dime packages. He also saw action on special teams. The deal is the second between the teams since former Packers coach Mike Holmgren went to Seattle to become the Seahawks' coach and GM just days after the 1999 season. Wolf traded wide receiver Derrick Mayes to the Seahawks last year for a seventh-round pick, and Mayes went on to the best season of his career.
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