Business of Football: The End of Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers Era Is Imminent

Mark87

Mark87

Carpe Diem
Admin
Moderator
Messages
10,687
Reaction score
12,564
Website
wisconsinsportstalk.net

Thirty years of spoiling​

The end of the Packers’ season came harder and faster than anyone, especially this writer, expected. Now the Packers, blessed with two generational talents at the game’s most important position for the past 30 years, face a reckoning.

Packers fans are the most spoiled of all NFL fans—although they certainly do not act spoiled—for this reason: They have had truly elite quarterback play, first with Brett Favre and then with Aaron Rodgers, without interruption for almost 30 years. The closest another NFL team has come to equaling that was the Colts moving from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck. But that was interrupted by injury and terminated by Luck’s retirement. Now my sense, and the sense I have had for the past two years, is that the transition that all other teams go through is coming, and coming soon.

I have no inside knowledge on this from Aaron or the team, and deliberately refrain from reaching out; I comment from my own experienced insight and perspective. And I just think this is the time for a change, both for Aaron and the team. Let’s examine.


Keeping the seat warm as the MVP​

Headlines blared all last offseason that Aaron wanted out of Green Bay and many, including respected pundits, suggested Aaron would never set foot there again. As you may know from reading this space, I always thought he’d be back in 2021, and he was.

My sense of what happened last year is that Aaron, both as the reigning MVP and a placeholder for Jordan Love, rightfully wanted some clarity. If the Packers were moving to Love in 2022—something I have always felt would happen—Aaron may have wanted to just get on with it rather than wait a year. The Packers, of course, wanted their cake and to eat it too; they wanted Aaron to continue his MVP play while Love apprenticed another year. And they got that. Aaron returned with another MVP season to boot and seemed happy with the team and the front office, and vice versa.

But alas, the season ended with another playoff disappointment at snowy and frigid Lambeau Field and the book on the 2021 season is now closed.
Click to expand...

Time for Transition​

Seared in my mind from draft night 2020 is the image of both Packers general manger Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur, in separate locations due to COVID-19, both smiling ear-to-ear after having traded up to select Love. Fifteen years before that, we drafted Aaron because no one else did and he fell in our lap. But here, the Packers aggressively moved to get Love.


The reality of the NFL is that first-round quarterbacks play. They don’t sit forever; they’re not flipped for draft picks; they play. For an NFL team to have the conviction to take a first-round quarterback, no matter where in the round, it is deciding that he is going to play. The only question is when.

For Aaron, that time frame turned out to be an extraordinary length: three years. Patrick Mahomes sat for one year, and it seems like Trey Lance will assume the Niners’ starting role after a year on the bench, too. Every other first-round quarterback drafted since 2012 has played during his first year. Except, of course, for Love, who has now sat two years.

I know: Rodgers and Gutekunst are now getting along well, and Aaron seems open to returning. But I don’t think so. I stuck with my position that he would return last year, in the face of so many saying I would be wrong, and will do the same this year.

And I think the decision will be mutual.
Click to expand...

Andrew Brandts take on all this just posted..... no one knows AR better.
 
The reality of the NFL is that first-round quarterbacks play. They don’t sit forever; they’re not flipped for draft picks; they play. For an NFL team to have the conviction to take a first-round quarterback, no matter where in the round, it is deciding that he is going to play. The only question is when.
Click to expand...
IMO this is what it comes down to. They took Love in the 1st, and they traded up to get him. He's going to play at some point, maybe it's a year earlier before he's ready but they'll take their lumps with him.
 
rpiotr01 said:
IMO this is what it comes down to. They took Love in the 1st, and they traded up to get him. He's going to play at some point, maybe it's a year earlier before he's ready but they'll take their lumps with him.
Click to expand...
Love in year 3 so need to decide if you will pick up year 5 option
 
rpiotr01 said:
IMO this is what it comes down to. They took Love in the 1st, and they traded up to get him. He's going to play at some point, maybe it's a year earlier before he's ready but they'll take their lumps with him.
Click to expand...
Imo the cap situation makes it even more clear. Keep what you can on the defensive side.
 
dannobanano said:
I consider Love having sat for 1 yr so far.
His rookie year was a mulligan because of pandemic.
Hand him the reins and hang on.
Click to expand...
Tell that to Tyler Davis, literally. Dropped what would’ve been a highlight reel TD for Love against Detroit
 
dannobanano said:
I consider Love having sat for 1 yr so far.
His rookie year was a mulligan because of pandemic.
Hand him the reins and hang on.
Click to expand...
Matt was RG3's QB coach his rookie year. If you remember he looked like a super star. Hopefully we can get Love going, orienting the offense to his strengths. I think he'll look better with his own game plan, possibly a run first system.

Gotta work on his footwork and decision making. He knows where to go with the ball tho, I think that's coming.
 
Nerd said:
Matt was RG3's QB coach his rookie year. If you remember he looked like a super star. Hopefully we can get Love going, orienting the offense to his strengths. I think he'll look better with his own game plan, possibly a run first system.

Gotta work on his footwork and decision making. He knows where to go with the ball tho, I think that's coming.
Click to expand...
RGIII looked like a star because Alfred Morris ran for 1700 yards or so that season. Gotta get that part of the offense going to succeed
 
rpiotr01 said:
RGIII looked like a star because Alfred Morris ran for 1700 yards or so that season. Gotta get that part of the offense going to succeed
Click to expand...
For all the talk about ML's offense relying on a strong run game, he sure hasn't established that yet in GB. In fact, there were plenty of games where he damn near abandoned the run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top