Given that the 2020 NFL regular season is (somehow) just around the corner, we can mop up what the Bucks need to do very simply, keep The Greek Freak in Milwaukee but do not follow the model that the Cleveland Cavaliers used to appease LeBron James, instead build an actual NBA roster around their superstar. There in no doubt in my mind that the Bucks should have kept Malcolm Brogdon and paid the luxury tax instead of doing a sign-and-trade with the Indiana Pacers that ended up netting the Bucks the 24th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft but we can't undo that now and there will be plenty of time to deal with how to fix the Bucks in the coming weeks.
As a result, it seems like posting something about the Green Bay Packers is the way go so I will leave breaking down The 53 (tons of surprising cuts to be sure) and the practice squad (expanded this year to help deal with the people on The 53 that will inevitable test positive for COVID-19) to others, instead let's go back to the 1st round of the 2020 NFL Draft to see how it set the stage for the next five years for the franchise. Like millions of other sports starved people, a bunch of buddies and I "watched the draft together" on Zoom. When the Packers traded up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, it was clear that I was a few seconds ahead of everyone else on the Zoom hangout so I tried to hide my reaction as the group caught up to me. As we all know by now, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst traded the 30th and the 136th picks in the 2020 NFL Draft to move up four spots to the 26th pick to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. Less than six months later, none of us really know how Love is going to turn out as a professional. From a process standpoint, it didn't make a ton of sense then given that the Packers signed Rodgers to a four-year, $134 million contract ($57.5 million signing bonus and $98.7 guaranteed) in August of 2018 that is scheduled to run through the 2023 NFL season. The Packers would take on ~$31.5 million in dead cap space if they moved on from Rodgers after this season (could put ~$14.3 on their 2021 cap and ~$17.2 million on their 2022 cap if they designated it as a post-June 1st move) and ~$17.2 million in dead cap space if they moved on from Rodgers after next season (could put ~$14.4 million on their 2022 cap and ~$2.8 million on their 20212 cap if they designated it as a post-June 1st move).
Honestly if the Packers made that same decision in 2021 or 2022, I couldn't blame them but just given the cap situation with Rodgers alone, I question the move even though I know quarterback is such an important position and understand taking the best player on the board usually works out given that is how Rodgers made it to Green Bay. Add in that there were inside linebackers (Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech or Patrick Queen from LSU), an offensive tackle (Isaiah Wilson from Georgia) and wide receivers (Tee Higgins from Clemson or Michael Pittman Jr. from USC) that went just a few picks after the Packers traded up to take Love, I would much rather the Packers draft one of those players instead of trading up to draft Love. Trust me, I can't with a straight face say that I know which one of the guys that went just a few picks after Love will be better than him long term, I just know any of them give the Packers a better chance to succeed in 2020 than Love. That doesn't even factor in that the Packers could have scooped another low cost player at the end of the 4th round with the other pick they traded to move up in the first round to draft Love. I know the NFL Draft is essentially an educated dart throwing contest given that there are tons of players that went late in the draft or undrafted that will likely go on to have a better NFL careers then some of the players taken in the first round (my friends would argue that middling is generous). Much like I am a high volume joke teller with a middling success rate, the NFL Draft is the same thing, having more picks just gives you more chances to strike lightning in a bottle.
I've read the various analyses of Rodgers drop in play since as early as 2015 according to Ben Baldwin of The Athletic (SOURCE) or a couple years later due to his broken collarbone in 2017 or his knee injury in 2018 or somewhere in between because the offense got stale in recent years under former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Let me just put my cards on the table, I am an unabashed Rodgers apologist. Heck, my son's name is Aaron so you can take all of this with a grain of salt but there is no doubt that the Packers are worse as a team in 2020 with Love on the roster instead of an inside linebackers, offensive tackle or wide receiver. I get it, the Packers don't draft players for just this season but watching quarterbacks recently drafted in the first round like Josh Rosen get cut in recent days, shows you that picking quarterbacks even in the first round is essentially a crap-shoot too.
I turn 40 next summer (yikes) so for almost my entire life as a Packer fan, they have had remarkable stability at the quarterback position thanks to Brett Favre and Rodgers. I obviously hope the Packer somehow pulled off a three-peat at quarterback with Love but I just can't get over that the Packers essentially painted themselves into a corner. Part of the benefit of rookie contracts are that they are "cheap" in NFL terms so if you can get an starting NFL quarterback on a rookie contract (think Russell Wilson when he first played for the Seattle Seahawks as the ultimate example) then you have a ton of money that would normally be allocated to the quarterback to spend on other positions (think Legion of Boom for the Seattle Seahawks) but the Packers will likely not get the benefit of that because absent a couple injuries, Love is currently 3rd on the quarterback depth chart behind Rodgers and Tim Boyle. That means that Love will most likely not play until 2022 at the earliest so the Packers would likely only get two years of Love on a rookie contract while they are dealing with the salary cap issues associated with showing Rodgers the door so they don't even get the cheap rookie contract bump to help them allocate resources elsewhere on The 53.
The 2020 NFL Draft mirrored life with the kids of NFL coaches and general managers jumping around in the background as their parents tried to work. That day, in their heart of hearts, coaches and general managers didn't know for sure but had to know it was very likely that they wouldn't get anywhere close to a "traditional off-season" so expecting a rookie quarterback to come in and contribute almost anything in 2020 was going to be a big ask, which means they had to know Love was likely nothing more than a 3rd string quarterback for the 2020 season. By that same logic, you could argue that a middle linebackers, offensive tackle or wide receiver would similarly have trouble contributing in 2020 but there is a big difference between quarterback and any other position in football.
Instead of adding a wide receiver to The 53 in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Packers continued to remake their offense by adding a bruising running back in A.J. Dillon and tight end in Josiah Deguara. There is no doubt that the Packers are trying to change the focal point of their offense under head coach Matt LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett into being a run first attack in the mold of the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans. The glass half full view of that is that metamorphosis could actually allow the Packers and Rodgers to thrive by not having to carry the entire offense with his arm. The glass half empty view is that Rodgers will become frustrated and petulant, which will lead to him checking out of run plays to pass plays to piss off coaches and management. Like everything, it will likely be somewhere in between, especially given the odd circumstance every walk of life has been dealt by COVID-19 in 2020, the question is whether we are closer to the glass half full or glass half empty metamorphosis. Only time will tell but given the unrest on the right side of the offensive line (long-time right tackle Bryan Bulaga left via free agency and they are currently dealing with some injuries to his replacement) and the fact that the Packers outperformed their expected win total for 2019 but failed to add useful pieces on offense, I sadly tend to think it will be more of a glass half empty metamorphosis. I can't end this post post on a completely negative note so while the Packers lack superstar depth, they do have superstars at quarterback (Rodgers), wide receiver (Davante Adams) and running back (Aaron Jones) so the hope is that they can help build on 2019 to be even better in 2020.
There is an outside chance that the Packers simultaneously added their quarterback of the future in Love while lighting a fire under Rodgers arse to bookend his career in Green Bay with a 2nd Super Bowl. It is much more than likely that Love never plays a meaningful snap for the Packers and his presence leads Rodgers to leave Green Bay under bad terms but without a long term answer at quarterback. More likely than not, Love takes over for Rogers in 2022 and the Packers get pennies on the dollar for Rodgers to go along with a messed up cap situation. No matter what, management for the Packers took the hard road by drafting Love so I hope that I am wrong and the Packers pull off the three-peat. Either way, fingers crossed that we can as safely as possible have NFL football back in our lives for the rest of 2020.