On Halloween 2008, Packers Extended Aaron Rodgers; What About Jordan Love?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Oct. 31, 2008, the Green Bay Packers rewarded their first-time starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, with a five-year contract extension.
On Oct. 31, 2023, first-time starting quarterback Jordan Love will not be given a contract extension. It’s almost impossible to believe that’s even a legitimate topic of conversation at 1265 Lombardi Ave.
Throughout their careers, Love followed the same path blazed by Rodgers.
- In 2005, Rodgers was drafted in the first round, even with Brett Favre entrenched as quarterback. In 2020, Love was drafted in the first round, even with Rodgers entrenched as quarterback.
- In 2008, the Packers traded Favre to the Jets to make way for Rodgers, who had only one big-time performance in three seasons on his resume. In 2023, the Packers traded Rodgers to the Jets to make way for Love, who had only one big-time performance in three seasons on his resume.
- As he stepped in as the starter, Rodgers was under contract for 2008 and 2009 as part of his initial five-year contract. As he stepped in as the starter, Love was under contract for 2023 and 2024 as part of a one-year extension.
The Packers didn’t wait long to make Rodgers their franchise quarterback. After seven career starts and coming off a victory over two-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and the powerhouse Indianapolis Colts, the Packers and Rodgers agreed to an extension to keep him contractually tied to the team through 2014.
“We think this is a good long-term investment for the organization,” then-general manager Ted Thompson said after extending Rodgers. “We're looking at it from a longer view rather than just the last two months. We think he will continue to develop in his craft.”
Love just started his seventh game of the season on Sunday. In another dreary performance, the Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings. Their fourth consecutive defeat, with one offensive performance seemingly worse than the last, sent their record to 2-5.
Of course, for all the similarities between Rodgers and Love, what isn’t similar at all are the supporting casts. It’s been said a million times but it’s worth repeating: Rodgers inherited Donald Driver, who was in the middle of a string of 1,000-yard seasons, and Greg Jennings, who scored 12 touchdowns in 13 games in 2007. Love inherited a kindergarten.
It's been a stumbling start to the season for Jordan Love and the Packers.
Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports Images
To be sure, Love hasn’t been impressive. Of 33 qualifying quarterbacks, Love ranks 28th in passer rating, 32nd in completion percentage and 26th in yards per attempt. Only Jimmy Garoppolo (nine) has thrown more interceptions than Love (eight), who’s chucked at least one in five consecutive games.
The Packers have scored 20 or fewer points in five consecutive games, the team’s second-longest streak over the last three decades. The first-half offense is offensive. The end-of-game offense isn’t any better.
But again, the big-picture analysis that general manager Brian Gutekunst must consider is how much of the blame for the offense’s problems are youth and injuries and how much of the blame belongs to Love.
Coach Matt LaFleur, who’s worked side by side with Love practically every day since training camp started a little more than three months ago, noted that chicken-or-egg dilemma on Monday when asked if he’s able to have a big-picture evaluation of Love.
“I think in order to do that, I think everybody’s got to play better around him, quite frankly,” he said. “Are there some things he can do better? Absolutely. I think he’d be the first to tell you. Are there some things we can do as a staff to help our guys? Absolutely. And then, when there are plays there to be made, we’ve got to make the plays.”
Plays weren’t made on Sunday. Between passes, sacks and scrambles, Love dropped back to pass 49 times against the Vikings. Nobody made a great catch. Nobody broke a tackle to turn a short gain into an explosive gain.
But Love didn’t do anything great, either. It’s not just the inaccurate passes, such as short-hopping a couple sideline routes to Romeo Doubs or overthrowing Doubs and Watson on deep shots in the final moments.
The decision-making has been questionable at times, too. It’s not just the turnover-producing throws into double coverage. How about deciding to run on fourth-and-16 with Harrison Smith among the Vikings’ defenders standing between Love and the first-down marker?
In 2008, extending Rodgers was an easy decision. In his first seven games, he had 100-plus passer ratings in five. He ranked fifth in passer rating (98.8) and was in the top 10 in passing yards, yards per attempt and touchdowns.
Love’s situation isn’t so easy. What if Green Bay can’t snap out of this slump and winds up something like 4-13? Teams with bad records typically have bad quarterbacks. Won’t Gutekunst have to admit his mistake and take another swing at finding the next great quarterback? What if, like Rodgers in 2008, the Packers wind up with six wins? What if, by season’s end, Love is OK?
OK quarterback play isn’t good enough. Not if the hope is to win the Super Bowl. In Titletown, the Super Bowl should be the goal.
With a franchise-defining decision at stake, a momentous 10-game sprint through the rest of the regular season awaits.
With the Packers coming off a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2019, drafting Love in the first round in 2020 was an enormous mistake. Unless something drastically changes, sticking with him after the 2023 season would be an enormous mistake, too.
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