Tom Clements hire proves Packers are all-in on luring back Aaron Rodgers | Opinion
GREEN BAY, Wis. — As far as signs go, this is a giant flashing billboard in Times Square.
The Green Bay Packers hired Tom Clements as their quarterbacks coach. Aaron Rodgers’ old friend and mentor is back even though he had no connection with Matt LaFleur or experience in the Packers coach’s version of the West Coast offense.
Hard not to think this means Rodgers probably will be back with the Packers next season.
Sure, there’s always the chance he’ll still asked to be traded. You never know what he's thinking or what might happen in the next couple weeks.
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But in hiring Clements, the Packers proved that LaFleur’s recent declarations of fidelity to Rodgers, at his season wrap-up news conference and again before the NFL Honors show, weren’t just for public consumption. The Packers are very much doing what they can to entice Rodgers to return.
Surely Clements’ name came up at Rodgers’ suggestion when he and LaFleur talked after Luke Getsy left his position as quarterbacks coach to become the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator. It’s also hard not to believe Clements and Rodgers had some kind of communication before Clements met with LaFleur and then accepted the job offer.
Nothing’s guaranteed until Rodgers signs a new contract with the Packers, so Clements is rejoining the Packers after a one-year retirement from coaching without being sure he’ll be coaching his former protégé. And regardless of Rodgers, LaFleur might like the idea of having the calm, steady hand of the 68-year-old Clements on staff to tutor a young Jordan Love.
But this hire is foremost about Rodgers and surely comes either at Rodgers’ behest or at minimum to make it more attractive for him return. Rodgers has always credited Clements as much as anyone in the organization for teaching him to play quarterback in the NFL. The prospect of working daily with Clements has to look better to Rodgers than if LaFleur had brought in some young quarterbacks coach Rodgers doesn’t know and probably wouldn’t truly respect.
LaFleur knows that. So if there was any reason to doubt the sincerity of the Packers’ public proclamations about Rodgers’ return, those are gone. They’re all-in to get him back.
They also must think Rodgers is inclined to return. They’ll presumably have to offer him a market contract extension – that is, in the $45 million to $50 million average per year – to finalize things. But if Rodgers wants to return, he’ll presumably be flexible enough to structure it in a way to most help the Packers’ salary cap over the next two or three years.
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If I were the Packers, I’d still trade Rodgers if a good offer came along – provided, of course, he gives the OK. He can veto a trade by refusing to do a contract extension with a new team.
But two first-round picks and a second would do the trick, especially if one of the first-rounders was in the top 10, such as Denver could offer this year. That would give Love a crack at the job in 2022, and if they didn’t see enough potential they’d have extra draft capital to get back in the quarterback hunt in the ’23 draft. That’s the best option for the team’s longer-term future.
But LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst and CEO Mark Murphy clearly don’t see it that way. They want to run it back with Rodgers the next two or three years and see if they can do what the team has failed at since Rodgers’ third season as their starter, that is, win another Lombardi Trophy. Bringing him back would be judged on the simplest terms: Win a Super Bowl and it was worth it; don’t and it wasn’t.
If Rodgers’ priority for where he plays in ’22 and beyond is winning a Super Bowl, rather than getting a fresh start or seeing what life is like elsewhere in the NFL, then returning to the Packers is as good a shot as any.
They play in one of the NFL’s weakest divisions, so they can pile up wins there, and the path to the Super Bowl in the NFC looks a lot easier than in the AFC.
With Tom Brady retired, who are the main threats in the NFC?
The Los Angeles Rams are reigning champs and have a go-for-it mentality, so they’ll be a force. But we all know how hard it is to repeat championships in the NFL.
The San Francisco 49ers have blue-chip talent on both sides of the ball, but they’ll be breaking in a new quarterback, second-year pro Trey Lance. He’ll probably need a year or two of seasoning to become a good player in this league, assuming he’ll ever be.
Seattle has a bold front office and a good quarterback, though it’s also rebuilding, and the truth is Russell Wilson has never won anything when he didn’t also have a dominant defense on his side.
The Dallas Cowboys might be the biggest threat because they have formidable talent and a keeper at quarterback in Dak Prescott. And an unexpected team is likely to emerge as a contender. Someone almost always does.
But compare that with the AFC. That’s where all the great young quarterback talent is now. To get to the Super Bowl you might have to beat Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. The Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert is a budding star as well.
The Packers also offer Rodgers a talented roster. Yes, they will lose a couple good players because of the cap. It’s pretty much a given Za’Darius Smith is gone, and even with all the cap maneuvering in the world, they're bound to lose a real contributor or two.
But you can bet that if Rodgers is back, the Packers will make sure Davante Adams is back too. It then will be on Gutekunst to draft like he did last year, when he found a couple immediate starters at positions of need, to fill his roster’s most glaring holes.
Rodgers has promised he’ll let the Packers know his wishes some time during the franchise-tag window, which runs Tuesday through March 8. The latest sign says he and the Packers will probably be renewing their vows.