The Green Bay Packers had a plan. It seems like such a good one at the time. After all, it had worked to perfect once before. Have a Hall of Fame quarterback in place, draft a talented young successor, develop him, and then make the switch. That is what happened with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers back in the late 2000s. Green Bay clearly hoped to repeat the process again after selecting Jordan Love in the 1st round last year.
What they have quickly found out is that Rodgers is not Favre. He has no intention of acquiescing to their timeline. They don’t get to decide when his time in Green Bay is over. So after putting together the best season of his career in 2020, Rodgers decided to make his stand. Either he goes or Packers management goes. Green Bay has made it clear they have no intention of trading the superstar. By that same token, Rodgers hasn’t offered any indication he’s returning to the team.
Is he really prepared to sit out the season over this?
Some think this is the case. The 38-year old quarterback is known for being stubborn. This is the sort of thing he would dig his heels in on. It’s not about money. This is a personal beef between him at the team brass. It has reached a point where even teammates are growing convinced that Rodgers is not coming back. Tyler Dunne of Go Long confirmed this on his recent podcast.
It is clear many on the Packers roster aren’t happy with the situation. Most of their top wide receivers sent a clear message by staging a holdout from Organized Team Activities. A show of solidarity in support of their quarterback. Whether that does much to change the situation is unlikely. Rodgers is set in his course. Unless he pulls a complete 180 in the next few months, Green Bay will have to forge ahead without their superstar.
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Is Jordan Love ready? Aaron Rodgers is forcing them to find out
Remember Rodgers himself sat for three years before he finally got his shot in 2008. Green Bay wouldn’t have had that luxury this time around due to the shifting nature of rookie contracts. Even so, they no doubt had hoped to have at least one more season with him at the helm before considering a transition. Rodgers decided they aren’t going to get that benefit. If they’re so confident in Love, then let his era begin now.
Impressions from last year on him weren’t exactly glowing. Though teammates have insisted Love is showing improvements through practices so far in 2021, the media descriptions can best be called tepid.
“In the 7-on-7 periods, Love completed 14 of 20 passes. Most of them were short-to-medium throws often working through his progressions. That could be viewed one of two ways: Either he wasn’t comfortable enough to find his primary reads or he’s learned patience.
There’s always this caveat with a practice in May: It was in helmets and shorts against no pass rush and with players barely operating at practice speed, let alone game speed.”
Could Love be next in line for Packer Hall of Famers?
Maybe. The odds don’t favor it though. He has talent to be sure but his time at Utah State was anything but a smooth ride. There were always concerns about him. It is why he fell in the 1st round, to begin with. Green Bay had hoped Aaron Rodgers would buy them enough time to see if they could iron out some of those issues. Time the veteran quarterback seems no longer willing to provide.