The Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers will always be synonymous.
The future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback spent almost two decades with the franchise where he helped lead them to a Super Bowl victory and was named MVP of that game, as well as earning 10 Pro Bowl selections, four NFL first team All-Pro honors and another four NFL MVP awards during his time with the franchise.
Of course there’s plenty of chatter about how Rodgers ultimately exited a franchise many believed he’d play with until the end of his career, it’s difficult to think about the Green Bay Packers without Aaron Rodgers.
Even though he put up some of his best statistical seasons after the fact — including back-to-back NFL MVP honors in 2020 and 2021 — it feels like tensions began brewing between Rodgers and the Packers brass traded up in the 2020 NFL Draft to select former Utah State QB Jordan Love.
At the time of Love’s selection, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst revealed that the team followed its draft process and chose Love because he was clearly the top player on the board.
“Long story short, eventually, Love was the top guy left, and the gap was widening,” Gutekunst said, per Sports Illustrated. “As those players got picked, it was kind of like, with the way our board was, there really wasn’t anyone else at that level that we felt comfortable taking.”
He also explained that the team wasn’t set on taking a quarterback with an early selection. They just so happened to like Jordan Love enough to trade up and get him.
“We looked at it like we really do every year. We evaluate all the players and certainly quarterback is of the highest priority for an NFL franchise,” Gutekunst said. “We evaluate those guys very closely. And you set your boards.
“Again, you don’t know what’ll happen. But I’ve never in my time in Green Bay, we’ve never been in a spot where it was like, ‘Hey, we have to go get a quarterback this year.’ This was no different.”
Rodgers Thrived With The Green Bay Packers After 2020
Ultimately, the move appears to have been the right one. Although the Packers haven’t reached a Super Bowl since drafting Jordan Love, Rodgers put together one of his best statistical seasons the same year they brought in his eventual replacement.
He helped Green Bay secure a 13-3 overall record in 2020 and led the Packers to the NFC Championship game where they ultimately fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2021, Rodgers and company cruised to a 13-4 overall record, but fell in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers.
While the team fell short of it’s ultimate goal of reaching the Super Bowl again, Rodgers was named NFL MVP both of those seasons.
But the 2022 campaign was a much different story. Rodgers lost his offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who took the head coaching job in Denver and his longtime top target Davante Adams, who was traded to the Raiders.
Those factors paired with a thumb injury he suffered in Week 5 and constant murmurs of tension between the franchise QB and the front office led to a (8-9) overall finish and just the third time the Green Bay Packers missed the NFL Playoffs in the previous 13 seasons with Rodgers as the starting signal caller.
Ultimately, Aaron Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets, but suffered an Achilles injury in Week 1 and has yet to play a game in 2023.
Aaron Rodgers on Jordan Love’s Success with Packers
There’s a false sentiment that there is some kind of bad blood between Rodgers and Love, because of the storyline of how drafting the first-year Green Bay Packers starting QB was the catalyst to tensions between the four-time NFL MVP and the organization.
But now that both parties have moved on and Love appears to have solidified his place as the Packers’ long-term franchise quarterback, Rodgers couldn’t be more complimentary of Love and how he’s playing.
On his Tuesday appearance on the Pat McAfee show, Rodgers was asked specifically about Love’s success, especially over the last three weeks.
"Jordan Love is playing outstanding these last three games..
I love Jordan & I think he's gonna be a great player in the league for a long time..
Obviously I wish things had gone different when I was in Green Bay but I have so much love for that organization" @AaronRodgers12 pic.twitter.com/EYmzh8Y33s
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 5, 2023
“Have you been surprised with what he’s done with the Packers over the last few weeks here, kind of confirming that maybe the Packers do finally have the next guy after Aaaron and he’s going to be the guy for the future?,” one of the co-hosts asked the Jets’ signal caller.
“No, No I’m not,” Rodgers responded without hesitation.
“Especially the last three games he’s playing outstanding. He’s in his first year starting, as well as he’s playing, can we not crown him right now? For his own sake. Because we shouldn’t do that to kids, we shouldn’t cancel them and we shouldn’t crown them.”
Rodgers continued to clarify his sentiment.
“I love Jordan, I think he’s going to be a great player in the league for a long time, but can we let him play his career? Am I surprised by the way Jordan’s playing, no, am I happy for him, hell yeah.”
Rodgers went on to explain that while he wished things would have gone differently in regards to his exit with the Green Bay Packers — and admits he could have handled things better — he has a ton of love for the organization and continues to talk to former players, and has been watching the new starting QB all season.
It’s refreshing, with all things considered, to hear one of the best players in Packers’ history clear the air and support the young QB he mentored before ultimately getting traded.
