Why the Green Bay Packers need to move on from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love | Opinion
GREEN BAY, Wis. − It’s time for the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers to part ways.
The Packers have won a lot of games in Rodgers’ 15-year run as their starting quarterback, and if all that matters is 2023, then it’s true their chances of winning are probably better with him than Jordan Love this year.
But it’s also true that running it back with Rodgers could mean another year of the Packers spinning their wheels. They might win a few more games but only delay the inevitable while accomplishing nothing of note.
The decision on Rodgers could be coming soon. This week he's starting his four-day darkness retreat and presumably will come out of it with clarity on where he wants to play in 2023, if he doesn’t already know.
NEVER MISS A SNAP: Sign up for our NFL newsletter for exclusive content
There also were the Rodgers-related reports over the weekend. One, by ESPN.com, was that the New York Jets have contacted the Packers about a trade. The others, a strategic leak to multiple outlets from the Packers proclaiming they’re fine if Rodgers wants to return, and fine if he wants to go. Maybe that’s the way the Packers really feel. Or maybe they’re saying that because they’ll need Rodgers’ cooperation to make a trade, so they want him to feel like it’s his idea.
Reasons for trading Aaron Rodgers outweigh reasons to keep him
Regardless, the Packers’ key decision makers (general manager Brian Gutekunst, coach Matt LaFleur and CEO Mark Murphy) have had plenty of time to think this through. On top of that, Rodgers this offseason has suggested he won’t force himself on the team even though his guaranteed contract in effect gives him the power to if he so chooses. So for the long-term good of the franchise, now’s the time for the Packers to move on. Better one year late than two.
There are only two good reasons for the Packers to bring back Rodgers. Either, they think they have a good shot at winning the Super Bowl in the upcoming season, or they don’t think Love is good enough to be their next guy.
As for the former, could the Packers win the Super Bowl with Rodgers, age 39 (40 in December), in ’23? Sure, it’s possible. With a healthy Christian Watson, among other things, they figure to be more like the team that went 5-3 over the final eight games than the one that was 3-6 in the first nine last year.
But it’s still a big leap to raising the Lombardi Trophy a year from now. Much would have to go right for a team with limited salary-cap room and whose quarterback will turn 40 years old. What are the chances all the right personnel moves and good health will come to pass? And what good is a 10-win season with another early exit from the playoffs at this stage of Rodgers’ career?
It would be one thing if Gutekunst and LaFleur were on shaky ground. But both signed contract extensions just last summer. They’ll never have more job security, so if there’s a time they can afford to think ahead, it’s now. If they really are OK with running it back with Rodgers, then it’s on them to ensure it ends up worth it.
Now is the time to find out what Jordan Love can do as a starter
But if they think Love has a shot to be their guy for the long haul, then better to find out now. They still can get an OK return for Rodgers – the best guess is a first-round pick, and maybe a little more. Then they’ll find out sooner rather than later whether Love can do it, and free the franchise from Rodgers’ onerous contract as well.
What’s also become obvious now is the Packers ceded too much power to Rodgers the past couple of years, and their culture is at risk. While a star quarterback and coach have to form some kind of partnership, there still needs to be a line separating who’s in charge. With the lengths the Packers have gone to convince Rodgers to stay – giving him a voice in personnel, and the huge contract extension last March that has not aged well – you can bet a lot of Packers players feel like Rodgers is running the show. That undercuts LaFleur’s authority and makes for an unhealthy locker-room dynamic.
More:As Jordan Love shows potential, Aaron Rodgers has worst season of his Green Bay Packers career
It might be no coincidence the Packers’ past two seasons have ended earlier than the year before: After a trip to the NFC championship game in 2020, they were bumped out of the playoffs in the divisional round in ‘21 and in the regular-season finale this year. They’re trending the wrong way. Same with Rodgers’ age.
In 2020, Gutekunst had the guts to draft Love when he didn’t need a quarterback. He took the heat, and three years later all signs suggest the team thinks Love has a chance to be a keeper.
If so, then Gutekunst, LaFleur and Murphy should be forward thinking again. The same ol’, same ol’ probably will get them the same ol’, same ol’. The Rodgers era is closing fast no matter what. The time is right for the Packers to find out whether Love can play.