My Goodbye to Aaron Rodgers

Depending on how you slice it, Cheesehead sport fans have been on Aaron Rodgers Watch for days, weeks or months.  As the resident Aaron Rodgers apologist with my Cheesehead sports buddies, even I am ready for Rodgers to go to the "New York" Jets.  I have become the annoying salary cap guy on the text thread we have rolling with my Cheesehead sports buddies.  I say that because despite everything that has gone down, I'd actually take Rodgers back for 2023 if the salary cap implications weren't so bad for the Green Bay Packers.  For those that don't obsess over the NFL salary cap, if Rodgers retires or the Packers trade him this off-season, the Packers will have to deal with a ~$40 million dead cap charge.  If the Packers bring back Rodgers for 2023 and then Rodgers retires or the Packers trade him next offseason, the Packers have to deal with a ~$60 million dead cap charge.  If the Packers bring Rodgers back for 2023 and 2024 then the Packers have a ~$70 million dead cap charge to contend with after the 2024 season.  Sure the Packers can spread that cap charge over two years if they move on from Rodgers after June 1st this offseason, next offseason or the offseason after that but realistically the only way that is happening is if Rodgers reties because no team wants to add Rodgers that late in the offseason

I said this in my last blog post on February 1st that if I had to bet, it is more likely that Rodgers gets traded to another team this offseason with the Jets the most likely team to keep this Favre reincarnation simulation going and the Las Vegas Raiders a close second so that Rodgers can reunite with wide receiver Davante Adams than Rodgers plays for them Packers in 2023 but no matter what, I think Rodgers will play football in 2023.  That was before Rodgers went on his darkness retreat, which as a sidebar I commend Rodgers for doing because I sadly can't be away from my cell phone for a family dinner with my wife and kids let alone in the dark for four days with just me and my thoughts.  My wife and golf buddies would argue that I treat golf trips like darkness retreats and to some extent that is actually true.  I unplug, talk with (more accurately at) my playing partners and take in the golf course.  Those golf trips truly do help keep me centered since life is stressful dealing with the demands of work and family.  In any case, Rodgers recorded a podcast with Aubrey Marcus after this darkness retreat and that affirmed what I thought about Rodgers wanting to play football.  Look for all the drama surrounding Rodgers each offseason about whether he is going to play football the following season, there is no doubt that Rodgers played through pretty serious injuries throughout his career.  So I get wanting to take some time, the part I don't like is that Rodgers us doing it to have the spotlight on him.

Anyhow, the more I learned about the contract that the Packers signed Rodgers to last offseason, the more enraged I became about it.  I honestly think it was organizational malpractice by the Packers.  I had a chance chat with Mark Murphy, the president of the Packers, last summer (his daughter lives in the same neighborhood that I do in Chicago) where we chatted for ~15 minutes.  No jive, it was one of my highlights of 2022 because I love the Packers that much.  I almost asked Murphy about the Rodgers contract but seemed out of bounds given the situation.  Plus, it would have guaranteed that Murphy wouldn't send me a return letter like he did in the fall of 2022 after I sent Murphy a note a few weeks before that, which again was another highlight of 2022.  I know, I have problems.

Following the 2021 season, Rodgers was coming off back-to-back NFL MVP seasons so there was almost no way that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball and Murphy could turn to backup quarterback Jordan Love.  It is easy to look at what the Seattle Seahawks got for Russell Wilson and wish the Packers got that that but it is hard to do that if you are Gutekunst, Ball and Murphy.  In retrospect it looks like a no brainer but that is not what it looked like at the time.  Conversely, the only way this offseason worked out is if the Packers won the Super Bowl.  Sure, the Packers were one of the favorites heading into the 2022 NFL season but only one of 32 teams wins the Super Bowl.  The salary cap albatross that Tom Brady left behind with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is about the same size as the one that Rodgers will likely leave behind with the Packers when he presumably heads to the Jets later today.  That dead salary cap charge is much easier to swallow when you have a Super Bowl to show for it like Brady and the Buccaneers do, which is something the Packers and Rodgers do not have to soften the blow of the dead salary cap charge.

Some of my Chicago golf buddies and my good buddy Spliff that I grew up with inside The Cheddar Curtain went to the Packers/Detroit Lions game at Lambeau Field, which was the last regular season game of the 2022 NFL season.  Moose, Spliff and I were the only true Packer fan while Peg (long story) and ETM (Esteban the Magnificent) were rooting for the Packers because they are our good friends.  Having been at the Packers/San Francisco 49ers playoff game loss last year in the Packers luxury box thanks to my buddy Fernando, I honestly thought Rodgers was coming back to the Packers for 2022 but I did not feel that way after the Packers loss to the Lions to end last season.  Fernando also took me to Favre's last game as a member of the Packers when they lost in the NFC Championship Game to the New York Giants at Lambeau.  I say that not as a humblebrag of attending a ton of Packer season ending loses but because the loss to the Lions to end last season felt like sawn song for Rodgers in Green Bay much like the Packers/Giants felt like a sawn song for Favre.  So odd that Favre and Rodgers both likely ended their careers as a Packer with a loss thanks to a back breaking interception at Lambeau Field.  Given that Favre was turnover prone throughout his career, it felt very fitting for him but Rodgers really never was so it felt like an odd way for him to likely go out that way.  I mention those specific games because the Packers have been relevant my entire sports rooting life but they've truly had some tough season ending loses as a result. As my buddy Uncle Patty aka Dirty Nasty likes to say, the sweet ain't as sweet unless you taste the sour.  Sadly it has been much more sour than sweet lately.  Yet for some odd reason, if the salary cap implications were different, I'd still take Rodgers back for 2023.

No matter what, today truly feels like a true end of an era.  I visited my college buddies in New Jersey last weekend for an unofficial college reunion that was one of the best weekends that I've had in a long time.  I was prepared for Rodgers to get traded to the Jets while I was in New Jersey and as an only child that thinks the world revolves around me, I thought it would be perfect that I was in New Jersey for the first time in years when Rodgers got traded to the Jets.  I had prepared myself for that possibility and frankly even a few years ago it might have ruined my weekend but I was almost welcomed it to happen especially since I was in New Jersey.  My guess is that later today Rodgers goes on Pat McAfee's show and announces that he intends to play for the Jets in 2023.  A few days too late for this only child but given that is the case, it is now Jordan Love time in Green Bay.

Trust me, it is much more likely that Love is Brett Hundley than Brett Favre but it truly is time to turn the page.  I am honestly not looking forward to the stories that come out in the coming weeks/months about how hard it was to deal with Rodgers because honestly that no longer matters.  The sport romantic in me wishes Rodgers won another Super Bowl last season for the Packers and road off into the sunset as arguably the greatest Packers of all-time but that didn't happen.  The fact that didn't happen is also why fans simultaneously love and hate sports.  The beauty of rooting for The People's Team is that hope always seems to spring eternal.  I worry that Love will get way more scrutiny than he should since he is trying to become the third franchise quarterback in a row but again that is what makes sports so intoxicating.  Maybe it is because I've spent more money than I should for my kids and I to be part owners of the Packers, I mean this blog post alone tells you that my priorities are out of whack, but trust me that the minute I hear a "Go Pack Go" chant the next time that I am at Lambeau, I will root hard for whoever is under center.

A Wrap on 2020 & Preview of 2021

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead by quarterback Tom Brady (will never feel right to type that) not only became the first team to host a Super Bowl in their home stadium but they also beat the Kansas City Chiefs to put a bow on the 2020 NFL season.  With a less than entertaining Super Bowl LV in books, we can thankfully put a wrap on the 2020 NFL season and look towards 2021.

Going into the 2020 NFL season if you told me that the Green Bay Packers would not only get back to the NFC Championship Game for the second year in a row but even host the game this year, I would have said that the season shaped up to be a resounding success since the Packers looked like a strong candidate to regress in 2020 after getting blown out in the 2019 NFC Championship game on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.

Given that the Packers finished the 2020 regular season 13-3 thanks to a win over the Chicago Bears on the road in Week 17 (more on that game later) and locked up the top seed in the NFC, all of a sudden hosting the NFC Championship Game felt like the absolute floor for what would be acceptable.  The NFL added a 7th playoff team so despite losing to the Packers, the Bears still got into the playoffs because the Arizona Cardinals couldn't beat the Los Angles Rams on the road.  Since the NFL added a 7th playoff team to each conference that also meant that only one team got a bye in the first round of the playoffs in each conference as opposed to two teams.  In the divisional round the Packers dispatched the Los Angeles Rams to host Brady and the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game.  All four previous NFC Championship Games that Rodgers was the starting quarterback for the Packers were played on the road so this was the first time that Rodgers was the starting quarterback for the Packers in an NFC Championship Game at home all be it with a much smaller home crowd due to COVID-19 restrictions.

It is almost too painful to relive that game at this point since the Packers lost to the Buccaneers in a game that they really should have won.  I know that sounds like sour grapes but man did the Packers pick some inopportune times to commit some complete brain farts (how do they give up a touchdown to end the first half?) and failed to convert on any of the three 2nd half interceptions by Brady to finish the season with a record of 14-4 and two of those four losses were to the Buccaneers.  The Packers are now 1-4 in NFC Championship Games with Rodgers as their starting quarterback: one win over the Chicago Bears 21-14 at Soldier Field, two loses were total blowouts (44-21 to the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 and 37-20 to the San Francisco 49ers in 2019) and two losses were total heartbreakers (28-22 to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime in 2014 and this year 31-26 to the Buccaneers).  It honestly stings to get that close to the Super Bowl so many times with Rodgers as the starting quarterback for the Packers but only have one Super Bowl appearance to show for it so let me see if I can mix in at least a personal silver lining that I am sure happened to thousands of other Packers fans this season too.

I like to get to at least one Packers game in-person a year since I live in Chicago and watch a handful with friends but that was not possible this year due to COVID-19.  As a result, I watched every Packer game on the couch this season with my wife Katie, ~6.5 year old son Aaron and ~3.5 year old daughter Audrey.  Sure winning games helps but I honestly have to say this might have been my favorite Packer season of my lifetime.  My son Aaron was absolutely locked in on the Packers all season.  So much so that Aaron has watched the Packers/Bears game from Week 17 almost every day for the last month.  While I am bummed that the Buccaneers as opposed to the Packers represented the NFC in Super Bowl LV, I will still look back fondly at the 2020 NFL season because it gave us a nice thing to take our minds off the fact that we are living through a global pandemic.  Plus, part of being a fan of a team of a team is to enjoy the ups and the downs, which we got to do together.  I don't want to (have to) force my kids to be Packers fans but I know that Aaron and Audrey will be Packer fans for life so I still consider this season a success.

With that, I thought I'd give some thoughts on where things stand right now got the Packers.  While the defense continues to be a mixed bag (already changed defensive coordinators this off-season), there were true signs of growth on the offensive side of the ball as Rodgers won his third NFL MVP but honestly that all feels a bit hollow since it is now 10 years since Rodgers and the Packers won Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Jerry World.  That said, the Packers organization is at a bit of a crossroads because absent injury Rodgers will be their quarterback in 2021 but there are some lingering questions about whether that will be the case in 2022 given that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst traded up four spots in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.  I wrote about the Rodgers/Love situation before the 2020 NFL season season started and have given it even more thought since then.  Despite having no inside information, I honestly think I have a handle not only on how/why it went down that way based on my reading of the tea leaves but how to proceed in the coming years.

Going into the 2020 NFL Draft, I truly believe that Gutekunst not only questioned whether Rodgers could get along with head coach Matt LaFleur but also whether Rodgers could perform as he had in the early-to-mid 2010's.  As a result, the Packers did a ton of due diligence (as they should for every draft honestly) on the quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft with an eye for coming up with a succession plan to replace Rodgers sooner than almost everyone outside the Packer organization would expect.  As I said right after the 2020 NFL Draft and I still maintain now, I have no clue whether Love will ever turn out to be a good NFL quarterback but that is missing the point of this whole exercise.

Starting as far back as 2014, it started to feel like the Packers were only going to go as far as Rodgers would take them given how stale the offense got under former Packer head coach and (somehow) current Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.  I am not breaking any news to say that having a very good quarterback is essentially required to win in the NFL playoffs at this point (looking at you Bears fans) but part of the genius of LaFleur's offense compared to McCarthy's offense is that players seems to get open based on the scheme as opposed to just talent alone.  As a result, I think that allows a serviceable quarterback like Rodgers to get results in LaFleur's scheme and a generational quarterback to take it to the next level.

The Love pick is a sunk cost so the Packers need to think about the best way to move forward and as crazy as it is to say, I think that is to bring Rodgers into the already messy decision making hierarchy at the top of the football side of the Packer organization.  Players like Rodgers and Brett Favre are bigger than the organization.  In the case of Rodgers (and to a lesser extent Favre), while money is a sign of showing how much you care about them, he already has a nine figure net worth so you need to come up with another way to "compensate" Rodgers.  Heck the Packers tried to give Favre a $20 million "services" contract to keep him retired but still a part of the organization when they transitioned from Favre to Rodgers as their starting quarterback so the organization knows there is value to keeping their stars happy by any means necessary.

Back to the actual organizational hierarchy.  Mark Murphy is the president and chief executive officer of the Packers so while Murphy has a board of directors that he has to answer to, the buck stops with Murphy.  Arguably Murphy's biggest decision of his tenure was who would replace long time general manager Ted Thompson (RIP) back in 2018.  Ultimately Murphy decided to hire Gutekunst, which meant that he didn't give the job to a couple of other internal candidates that interviewed for the position: Russ Ball and Elliot Wolf.  There was no way that Murphy could find a way to give the general manager job to Gutekunst but still retain Ball and Wolf so Murphy got creative.

Wolf left to work in the front office of the Cleveland Browns as assistant general manager under another former Packer front office executive John Dorsey, neither Dorsey (currently a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions) or Wolf (currently a front office consultant to the New England Patriots) are with the Browns anymore so while I appreciate what Wolf's father Ron did for the Packers (Favre would have never played for Packers without Wolf), the jury is still out on Elliot.

Murphy elevated Ball from his position as vice president of football administration/player finance to executive vice president/director of football operations and set things up on the football side of the organization so Gutekunst, Ball and the head coach all report directly to Murphy.  Different professional organizations have different reporting structures but the most common is that the head coach reports to the general manager and the general manager reports to the president.  When Murphy hired Gutekunst as general manager, McCarthy's status with the organization was shaky at best but the Packers still kept McCarthy on as head coach for most of the 2018 season.  I know it seems like I am taking unnecessary shot here but if f I were Murphy, I would have fired McCarthy after the Packers lost the NFC Championship Game to the Seahawks in January of 2015.  Instead, McCarthy remained head coach of the Packers until early December of 2018 when he was fired following a super embarrassing 20-17 home loss to the then 3-9 Arizona Cardinals.

I also know this seems silly to break this down so much but like or hate Rodgers, he (at least) seems to be a super intelligent person.  Heck Rodgers won in his only appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy and is scheduled to be one of the guest hosts of the show (RIP Alex Trebek) in 2021 as well.  I say Rodgers at least seems to be a super intelligent person because everything that he says has a purpose for him.  After the loss to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game this season, people interpreted Rodgers' comments as opening the door to him leaving the Packers but I actually saw it as an opening to keep him a Packer for the rest of his career.  What Rodgers was trying to covey was his angst over the uncertainty not only of where he stands in the eyes of the organization but also where things stand for a number of his teammates.  As I said earlier, Rodgers just wants a seat at the table so given that Murphy already opened that with having Gutekunst, Ball and LaFleur report directly to him on football decisions, why not add a 5th chair?

I say that especially because the player empowerment era has gone into hyperdrive the last couple years in professional sports, especially in the NBA.  It has gotten to the point in the NBA that if a player has enough status in the league and says they want off their current team (totally their right to ask for) they can essentially force their current NBA team to trade them to their preferred team.  The contract structures and salary cap ramifications of the NBA are much different than the NFL but as you saw this off-season already, the Los Angeles Rams wanted to move on from quarterback Jared Goff even before the mega contract extension that he signed with the team kicked in so the Rams are going to have a bunch of dead money on their salary cap because they traded Goff along with a bunch of draft picks to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford.  That is all to say that NFL players are going to follow the lead of NBA players and even point to the Rams as a way you can move on from onerous contracts (think Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz) so the Packers might as well get out ahead of it with Rodgers.

Plus as Brady clearly showed last night, the shelf life for NFL quarterbacks is longer than we knew even five years ago.  So much so that I think the only real franchise altering blunder that you can put at the feet of New England Patriots head coach/general manager Bill Belichick, arguably the most successful NFL coach in NFL history, is that Belichick misread the Brady situation three or four years ago because he thought that Brady wouldn't be able to play effectively into his 40's and clearly Belichick was wrong about that.  Rodgers is 37 years old and I honestly could see him playing into his early-to-mid 40's so the Packers need to do whatever they can in their power to make that a reality.  I get it, I am writing this from a fan's perspective so people will write this off as a (borderline) silly idea but locking down Rodgers for another give years means the Packers and Rodgers could realistically compete at a high level in the NFL for that entire time.  Sure injuries could derail that but I really do think the Packers need to set-up the franchise to thrive around Rodgers both on and off the field.  If it doesn't work on the field with Rodgers they are going to need to replace Rodgers anyhow so might as well go the extra mile in the hopes that it does work.  Sure people might worry this is setting a bad precedent but organizations need to stop resting on how they've traditionally done things, which ironically is what Murphy did in 2018 when he changed the reporting structure to all go through him.  Again, Murphy already has three people on the football side report to him so that is why I am advocating for a four person to have a chair at that table. I get it, that might create some tension in the locker room, but it could also help alleviate some tension too and it is clearly worth the risk at this point.

I honestly didn't think I was going to spend that much time breaking down how to keep Rodgers a Packer long-term in this post but here we are and I wanted to knock out one other thing with this post so I want to transition to where (I think) I am going to take this blog in 2021.  I made a personal commitment to write (at least) 12 blog posts in 2021 as a part of my 2021 S.M.A.R.T. goals.  For those not familiar with S.M.A.R.T. Goals, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound goals.  The idea to set S.M.A.R.T. Goals was inspired by my supper witty buddy Chandler Goodman (aka Shebow) that I met via NewClub Golf Society.  There is no way that I will be able to have an annual write-up anywhere as enjoyable as Chandler's annual write-ups (2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020) but it did inspire me to at least try.

While some of my blog posts might actually be Cheesehead sports related, what I really would like to do is make them more personal about my journey to live more intentionally than reactionary, which is the whole point of most of the S.M.A.R.T. Goals that I set for myself in 2021.  Don't get me wrong, as a person that works in a support role at a law firm and has two young children, I understand that fire drills will come up that I need to react to on a daily basis but my hope is to continue to be proactive in how I handle things in my personal life so look for posts in the coming months on what I am thinking about and working on.  While this might turn some people off, I want to start challenging myself (and hopefully other) to improve in various facets of my life.  I actually purposely waited to post this until sometime in early February because by then the excitement of New Years Resolutions have worn off so while I want to challenge myself, I want them to be long-term improvements (more intentional) as opposed to short-term modifications (less reactionary) because "quick fixes" just results in me abandoning them.  Sure, I would love to wave a magic wand and lose 15 pounds (one of my other S.M.A.R.T. Goals for 2021) but in developing better habits (e.g. eating better and working out more efficiently), there is a much better chance that I sustain a healthy body weight over a longer period of time instead of just losing the weight and putting it right back on.  While I have ideas for where I want this to go, I really would like to get some feedback so please connect with me because while this is mostly a selfish endeavor, I want this to be something that others find useful too as opposed to just screaming into the void.

Building The 53 - Love and Rodgers

As I traded text messages with my 'Sconi buddies about the post-season essentially ending with a whimper for the Milwaukee Bucks as we endured an absolutely painful and borderline embarrassing 4th quarter where the Bucks scored just 13 points en route to going down 3-0 to the Miami Heat in their second round bubble playoff match-up, my buddy UP suggested that I start posting in this space again and that he might even occasionally drop a guest post so here I am again posting about 'Sconi sports.  Still to be determined how much I end up posting and what exactly I post about but does feel good to start blogging again so gonna try to ride the lightning as long as I can.

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.