Rasul Douglas didn’t believe the call when the Packers traded him

On Thursday, the Buffalo Bills’ newest cornerback, Rasul Douglas, got an opportunity to talk to the local media in Western New York for the first time. In that interview session, he mentioned an interesting story about how he was told about the trade that sent him to Buffalo from Green Bay.

My initial reaction? At first, [Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst] called me at first. I thought it was like a joke, feel me? Because he didn’t say too much, he was just like, “We’re trading you.” Then it was over. The conversation was over. I just hung up, you know what I mean? I’m sitting there and then [Packers president] Mark Murphy called me, and he’s got a voice that’s like you know it’s him. So I’m like oh nah this ain’t no joke. He was like, “Yeah, we’re trading you to the Bills.” He was like, “Man, I just want to say I appreciate you, thank you for everything.”

It seems like reality took a while to set in for Douglas, who apparently thought that Gutekunst’s call was someone yanking his chain. Ultimately, Douglas was indeed sent to Buffalo, along with the Packers’ 2024 fifth-round pick, in exchange for the Bills’ 2024 third-round pick.

According to Douglas, Tuesday — the day of the trade deadline — is a day that players typically have the day off. The cornerback claimed that when he headed into the facility on Tuesday, following the news of the trade, current Packers players began filing in on their off day to say their goodbyes to their now former teammate.

Three teammates that Douglas mentioned specifically were running back Aaron Jones, who Douglas said shared some tears with the cornerback, and slot cornerback Keisean Nixon and safety Darnell Savage, whose house Douglas stopped by after the trade.