Tough Decisions Await, Despite Stated Interest in Rodgers Returning for 2023

Coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst said they'd like Aaron Rodgers to return as Packers quarterback in 2023.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 5, 2022 7:29 PM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Sunday, after emerging victorious yet again against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was asked if the prodigious potential of Christian Watson would play a role in him returning for the 2023 season.

Yes, he said, but “there’s got be mutual desire on both sides.”

On Monday, coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst, said the Packers want him back.

“Absolutely,” LaFleur said a day after a 28-19 victory over the Bears kept their season alive at 5-8.

Gutekunst, taking part in a previously scheduled news conference to fulfill his once-per-regular-season NFL requirements, echoed his coach.

“Surely, yeah,” Gutekunst said. “We made a big commitment to him this offseason [with a three-year, $50 million contract extension], so that was obviously something that was really important to us.”

Gutekunst and Rodgers talk regularly but those talks have been focused on the 2022 team and not 2023, the GM said. Rodgers’ comments about playing with Watson, who has eight touchdowns in his last four games, indicated that he’d like to return to Green Bay for at least another season. That would get Rodgers to his 40th birthday, a number he’s said he’d like to reach.

The comments from Gutekunst and LaFleur seemed to indicate “mutual” interest in a 19th season together. Then again, what else were they supposed to say with four games left in the season?

“I think with what he’s accomplished here, what he’s done for this organization, that is certainly something we’ll sit down together and work through as we get through the offseason,” Gutekunst said.

Because they won’t be made in a vacuum, the decision won’t be easy.

The first decision belongs to Rodgers, who turned 39 on Friday. Will he have the desire to come back for another season? If so, does he see a championship-caliber roster – this year’s record notwithstanding – or a team that’s ready for a rebuild? If it’s the latter, will his desire to play in 2023 be via a trade?

The second decision belongs to the team. Is Rodgers having a subpar season because of a broken thumb and the struggles in replacing Davante Adams? Or is he struggling because he’s getting old? “He’s a tough son of a gun,” Gutekunst said.

The third layer is Jordan Love. Gutekunst moved up in the first round of the 2020 draft to get Love, presumably to replace Rodgers in hopes of continuing Green Bay’s standard of quarterbacking excellence. Next year will be Love’s fourth and final season of his rookie deal. Will it be time to start a new future?

Echoing what several executives said recently, Gutekunst said he doesn’t need to see Love play this season to determine whether he should activate Love’s fifth-year option. That decision must be done by May 1 – the Monday after the 2023 NFL Draft. It’s a huge decision: a guaranteed $19.8 million for the 2024 season, according to OverTheCap.com.

“We’re really pleased with his progression and what he’s been able to do,” Gutekunst said. “I think that it would be really good for him, the growth that you need to go through, seeing things for the first time, making those mistakes that you need to make. But I think from our end of it, we’ve seen what we need to see.”

What they’ve seen is Love playing under LaFleur for three seasons. Love struggling in starts at Kansas City and the second half at Detroit last season but thriving in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia this season. Facing the No. 1 defense as the scout-team quarterback the past two seasons. Running the No. 1 offense while Rodgers has sat out a series of Wednesday practices due to the thumb. How he studies, how he interacts with teammates, how he leads.

“Obviously, we’ve seen him for three years in practice and doing the things that he’s doing,” Gutekunst said. “I think there was a stretch here while Aaron’s been banged up where he’s had a lot of reps with the 1s, which was great for him (and) great for us to see. It was also just really, really good for him to experience game-planning each week. I think quarterbacks got to play a bunch of games before they learn how to win, but I do think we feel very confident that Jordan can move the ball, score points and do the things that we ask of our quarterbacks.”

The Packers enter this week’s bye clinging to slim playoff hopes. If and when they are eliminated from postseason playoff contention, Rodgers understood that the team might want him to step aside so Love could start the final few games.

“I’d love to finish the season out, but I understand this is a business and they might want to see some younger guys play,” Rodgers said last week. “Hopefully, we don’t have to have that conversation but, if that conversation comes up, I’ll approach that with an open mind and without any bitterness or resentment.”

There was bitterness and resentment when the Packers drafted Love in 2020. That’s faded, though, with Rodgers winning MVP in 2020 and 2021 and with Rodgers and Love forming a friendship over their three seasons together.

That doesn’t mean the next steps won’t be hard. The longer they stick with Rodgers, the more Love’s rookie contract will melt away. Stick with Rodgers too long, the Love era might end before it’s begun. Move on from Rodgers too early, and they risk seeing their MVP quarterback becoming an MVP quarterback for another team.

“We’re fortunate to have two really good quarterbacks and, as we move into that time period, we’ll make those decisions as we go,” Gutekunst said. “But as I’ve been taught from the time I walked into this building, ‘Whatever comes with having great quarterbacks, it’s worth it.’”