Most NFL franchises approach a fork in the road every few years. The starting quarterback struggles, the team inevitably falters, and the decision-makers decide to make a big change. The result of the process immediately shifts the pathway of the franchise.
The Green Bay Packers have not approached many of these franchise-altering forks in the road over the last 25 years.
A rare divergence happened Thursday night during the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.
GM Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur traded up to No. 26 overall and took Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, establishing a future beyond Aaron Rodgers and resetting the course of the franchise forever.
Rodgers turned 36 in December. He is under contract through the 2023 season, and he’s said over and over again that he wants to play until he’s 40 and remain in Green Bay until the conclusion of that deal.
Trading up to take Love certainly adds another element to the equation.
This isn’t 2005. Rodgers isn’t threatening retirement every summer. His cap hits will accelerate sharply in the next two years. He just helped the Packers get to the NFC title game.
Forget the evaluation of Love as a player. He won’t be expected to play in 2020. Or 2021. Maybe even in 2022. The Packers will now give Love a chance to sit for years behind a future Hall of Famer, as Rodgers once did behind Favre, and prepare to take the keys from No. 12 when the time is right.
But it’s really hard to see into the future and figure out when the time will be right. The economics of the situation are a mess. And even if the Packers were smitten with Love, it’s impossible to look at this decision and not see it as a reflection of what the team thinks of Rodgers and his immediate playing future.
Many expected the Packers to use an early pick to give Rodgers a bunch of new weapons, helping him take advantage of every little bit of talent remaining in his right arm over the final three or four years of his career in Green Bay. Instead, the Packers officially started the clock on his eventual departure.
Love could turn out to be a terrific player. And if he does, Gutekunst will look like a genius, and the Packers will have another 10-15 years of high-level play at the most important position in sports.
Still, this is a tremendous gamble. The path of the franchise just changed dramatically and it should be terrifying for everyone involved.
Fifteen years ago, Ted Thompson stuck to his board and took a quarterback from Cal despite having a future Hall of Fame passer on the roster. Gutekunst just attempted the same trick. The legacies of everyone – but especially Gutekunst and LaFleur – will be tied to the future success of Jordan Love.
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