Former Packers director Eliot Wolf reveals how close team was to drafting Ray Lewis

While chatting with NFL insider Adam Schefter on his podcast this week, former Packers director Eliot Wolf revealed a little-known piece of Green Bay draft lore. According to the current Patriots exec, the Packers were extremely close to drafting Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis out of Miami in 1996. In fact, they were so close that they had him on the phone.

“John Michels was one,” Wolf said while recounting the Packers’ 1996 draft. “Tackle from USC, now that one didn’t work out, that’s actually an interesting story because they were getting ready to draft Ray Lewis, and Baltimore picked him right before… and then they ended up picking John Michels.”

“There was some disappointment because they actually had Ray on the phone,” he continued. “They were talking to Ray, and Baltimore was still on the clock.

“They thought Ray was one of the best players in the draft. I mean, there were games where Ray had like 20 tackles. I know that’s easy to say now. He’s one of the best linebackers of all time. You know, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and all that. He was kind of seen as an undersized middle linebacker back in the day. He wasn’t what we know as Ray Lewis now.”

After Baltimroe snagged him at No. 26 overall, Lewis had Hall of Fame career with the Ravens and he never put on another jersey. He earned 13 Pro Bowl nods and made 10 All-Pro teams during his 17-year career. He led the NFL in tackles three times and won Defensive Player of the Year twice. Lewis also helped the Ravens win two Super Bowl titles. Meanwhile, John Michels, who landed with the Packers instead of Lewis, ended up starting several games as a rookie, though ultimately, injuries derailed his career rapidly.

Packers came close to landing Randy Moss

When considering the Packers’ biggest what-ifs, it’s impossible to leave out Randy Moss. The team was close to executing a trade for the Vikings wide receiver, but then Bill Belichick and the Patriots swooped in.

While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, the former Patriots coach compared making that trade to childbirth.

“The most interesting trade was the Randy Moss trade,” Belichick said. “We’ve been trying to trade for Randy Moss for two months.”

Moss was playing for the Oakland Raiders at the time, and Belichick said he talked to the late owner Al Davis about acquiring Moss.

“I talked to Mr. Davis and I said, ‘Are we going to make this deal or not?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it for your fourth,’” Belichick said while also mentioning that the Patriots picked seventh in the fourth round at the time. He then said that the team had to get Moss in for a physical and re-negotiate his contract. “And Mr. Davis said, ‘Well that’s your problem. You want to trade for him?’”

New England went on to use Moss as a star receiver in Tom Brady‘s offense. He accumulated 3,904 receiving yards in four seasons with the Patriots and had a 23-touchdown season in 2007.

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this report.