Green Bay traded Roy McKay to Washington and received tackle…
Green Bay traded Roy McKay to Washington and received tackle Don Deeks. Deeks appeared in eight games for the 1948 Packers and made one start, giving Green Bay at least a season of direct roster value from the exchange. The return was not transformative, but it materially exceeded Washington's outcome after McKay was released before playing a regular-season game for his new club.
Green Bay Packers Received
- player Donald Deeks / Don Deeks
Washington Commanders Received
- player Roy McKay / Roy Dale McKay
Trade Analysis
The Exchange
On 1948-07-10, Green Bay Packers received Donald Deeks / Don Deeks, while Washington Commanders received Roy McKay / Roy Dale McKay. The comparison is limited to the consideration each club controlled directly after the transaction. Later movement of an acquired pick or player is useful for tracing provenance, but it is a separate transaction and is not counted as extra compensation in this verdict.
Green Bay Packers Return
Green Bay traded Roy McKay to Washington and received tackle Don Deeks. Deeks appeared in eight games for the 1948 Packers and made one start, giving Green Bay at least a season of direct roster value from the exchange. The return was not transformative, but it materially exceeded Washington's outcome after McKay was released before playing a regular-season game for his new club. The useful question is how much durable football value that direct return created for the franchise.
Washington Commanders Return
Washington acquired Roy McKay, the former Packers back and standout punter, in exchange for Don Deeks. McKay had been productive earlier in Green Bay, but he was released by Washington before the 1948 regular season and never appeared in a regular-season game for the club. Because the acquired player produced no Washington game value, the Commanders clearly lost the realized-value comparison. The same standard applies here: realized playing value and retained draft value matter more than later unrelated movement.
Value in Hindsight
The post-trade careers create the separation. Deeks gave Green Bay eight games in 1948 and one start, a modest but real return at tackle. McKay had been a productive Packers back and league-leading punter earlier in his career, yet Washington released him before he played a regular-season game for the club. The verdict therefore measures what each franchise actually received after the exchange, not the players' pre-trade reputations.
Final Verdict
Green Bay Packers receives a B- and Washington Commanders receives a D+. The verdict is Green Bay Packers Win. This conclusion weighs the direct assets, the useful football value each side actually realized, and the scale of the transaction. Where the evidence shows only a small gap, the grades stay close; where one return produced clearly more durable value, the separation is larger.