Green Bay Packers & Jordan Love: Good Franchises Make Tough Decisions

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former Utah State quarterback Jordan Love raised a lot of eyebrows by being taken as the 26th overall pick to the Green Bay Packers.

It was a head-scratching move for some Packers fans. The team is one year removed from being in the NFC championship game and are poised to be a contender in 2020.

So, why do they not only take a quarterback but trade up to do so despite Aaron Rodgers still being one of the top quarterbacks in the league?

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst calls it a long-term decision.

“I think it’s certainly, this is something that is a long-term decision. I think when you go through kind of the way things went tonight, you run the short term and the long term,” Gutekunst said. “The way the board fell, this was the best decision for the Packers. I think obviously Aaron’s been around for a long time, and he knows what we’re playing for right now, and that’s what’s most important right now.”

QB @jordan3love on conference call right now with Green Bay media:
"Aaron is an amazing player. I know I'll learn a lot from him. I'm not sure how that situation will work but I'll be behind him and do what the team needs." #GoPackGo #AggiesAllTheWay @KSLSports

— Sam Farnsworth (@SFarnsworthKSL) April 24, 2020

Gutekunst added that he did not discuss drafting a quarterback in the first round with Rodgers. Not that he has to do that but there could be some awkwardness in the locker room, which Love acknowledged.

The pick of Love is nearly the exact same thing that happened to Rodgers when he was drafted in 2005 and became the heir-apparent to Brett Favre.

Is Rodgers Done?

KSL Sports Scott Mitchell has been on both sides of this scenario while in the NFL. He was taken with the 93rd selection in the 1990 NFL Draft and was considered to be the future with the Miami Dolphins once Dan Marino retired.

Later during his career when he was with the Detriot Lions, they selected Charlie Batch to eventually be his replacement.

His biggest takeaway from the Packers selecting Love is that this marks the beginning of the end for Rodgers with the Packers because new head coach Matt LaFleur wants to have his guy running his team.

“Aaron Rodgers is as good as he is not LaFleur’s guy. Jordan Love was picked in the first round. Now you have this funky dynamic gong on. All the love the Packers give Jordan Love will be accentuated in Aaron Rodgers’ mind and looking over his shoulder,” said Mitchell on KSL Unrivaled.

.@19scottmitchell has a 🔥🔥🔥 take on the @packers drafting Jordan Love as Aaron Rodgers replacement. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/MkZZKQIOrW

— KSL Unrivaled (@KSLunrivaled) April 25, 2020

Good Franchises Make Tough Decisions

The Packers are in a win-now mentality. Rodgers has only a few good years left as an elite quarterback. The team has talent around them in wide receiver Devante Adams, a solid running game with depth that includes Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and its new second-round draft pick from Boston College in A.J. Dillion.

The team has weapons going forward but what great organizations do is balance winning now and building. That is what the Packers seemingly are doing by drafting Love in the first round.

Yes, there could have been a player taken in the first round that would be a key contributor this upcoming year, but if the Packers pick of Love pans out then that organization will have a nearly 30 year run of amazing quarterbacks. No other team can say they have that type of stability at quarterback, according to Mitchell.

“This new regime in Green Bay picked him. Matt LaFleur inherited Aaron Rodgers and he may not even like Aaron Rodgers,” Mitchell said.

There has to be some uncertainty even for how good any player is. New coaches want to do their own thing on a team their way. Rodgers is not going anywhere anytime soon and he is clearly the best chance to win but it has to be an uncomfortable position to be in to know your replacement was drafted. An elite quarterback like Rodgers feels he is better than anyone and can play for another five years.

Learning From Experience

One of the positive that Mitchell notes for Love is that he was taken with the benefit of learning from a future Hall of Famer.

“The best scenario for Jordan Love is where he went and he is the only one excited about this. Every Packer fan and players are not excited because the NFL is about winning right now. You can’t build for the future,” Mitchell said. “You don’t what you have in Aaron Rodgers, he says he wants to play until he is 40 and he probably could but he wants a guy who can play right now.

“When you are a young guy, and I know this very well. It is true as true north when you go in and see how it is done from another player who is exceptional like Rodgers… he will learn so many things through observation.”

Another positive for Love is to not be forced into play immediately. So many times a first-round quarterback will be thrust in before they are ready. The Packers are not going to bench Rodgers anytime soon so this could be a situation like a decade ago where Rodgers sat and waited for Favre to move on.

Odds are it a few years away before Love takes over but the Packers are attempting to rebuild and win now, and that is a risky proposition that may or may not work out for them.

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