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When a team has a generational, hall-of-fame, one of the greatest to have ever done it type of talent like Aaron Rodgers, that front office should do everything in their power to ensure they don't lose him.
Attending to that player's needs and wants, making sure he feels welcome and that he belongs and providing him with the players and personnel to win games is paramount. But for years now, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers hasn't felt wanted in Green Bay.
The organization kept Mike McCarthy at the helm for much too long before hiring a first-time head coach, Matt Lafleur, to lead the 36-year-old Rodgers.
Lafleur, on paper, has been solid so far, only losing six regular-season games over his first two seasons with the team, but that success was directly predicated on elite QB play from Rodgers. After reaching the 2019 NFC championship game, where Raheem Mostert ran for over 200 yards and four TDs, the Packers came to the conclusion that they needed a QB for the future.
So, in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, they traded up to select Jordan Love from Utah State. Since returning in 2020 to win the MVP award, Rodgers hasn't appeared at the Packers' facility thus far this year. There are two different paths the Packers can take with Rodgers to fix this messy situation.
#1: Trading Aaron Rodgers
The first way would be to give in to the demands of Rodgers and trade him. Trading Rodgers would do a couple of things for the Packers.
First, it would carve out a clear path to playing time for Jordan Love. The Packers don't want to waste a first-round pick, one in which they could have selected a WR like Chase Claypool. Moreover, it appears they still have tons of faith in Love.
The second is that it would net Green Bay a bountiful haul, possibly the most substance in a trade in the history of the NFL. Rodgers is easily worth 1-2 solid to elite contributors, another QB and three-plus first-round picks. Maybe more.
The Packers could get younger players, acquire more talent and picks while rebuilding the team in a way where they could still be competitive. The issue with this path is that Jordan Love may not pan out the way expected of him.
The Packers were incredibly ignorant and naive in assuming Rodgers was 'past his prime' to select a turnover-prone QB in the first round of the draft.
#2 Trading Love
This is the other direction the Packers could take to resolve the Aaron Rodgers saga. If the Packers are truly committed to Aaron Rodgers in the long term, which is unlikely, they should move Love to a team that is looking to address their QB position.
For example, Love would be a very good fit in Atlanta. Matt Ryan is 36 and will potentially be out after this upcoming season, and the Falcons will then have to look for his replacement.
Love would likely cost the team a second-round pick, and Rodgers would feel wanted and welcomed by his team. When Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of 2016, Jimmy Garoppolo stepped in and went 2-0 before getting injured.
When rumors surfaced the next season that Bellicheck was grooming Garoppolo to replace Brady, owner Robert Kraft forced Bellicheck into trading Garoppolo to San Francisco for a second-round pick. That secured Brady's place as the team's no. 1 QB. But seeing how the Packers have handled the Aaron Rodgers situation to date, this outcome is almost certainly not happening.
What's next in the Aaron Rodgers saga?
As the season looms closer and closer, the Aaron Rodgers situation will only worsen. Rodgers has already made an abundance of money, so the legendary QB is not looking to make more bucks.
He wants respect. The most likely outcome is that he and the Packers will come to some sort of an agreement where he plays out 2021 and the front office agrees to trade him at the conclusion of the season. They'll then have time to develop Jordan Love.
It's going to be a very interesting next few weeks.
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