Trading Rodgers Ushers In Great Reset

The last few days have been revealing in terms of how the Green Bay Packers will proceed without Aaron Rodgers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 18, 2023 9:08 AM EDT
Original:
Mar 18, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There will be a fresh face at quarterback and a fresh start for the Green Bay Packers.

With an aging legend at quarterback and a championship-caliber team, the Packers have been running on the financial treadmill the last few years. General manager Brian Gutekunst and his right-hand man, Russ Ball, restructured contract after contract to keep the core of the team together, hoping everything would fall into place in January.

However, the dynasty-that-wasn’t ran out of time and salary cap. Last year was a colossal failure, with the Packers going from 13-3, 13-3 and 13-4 to 8-9.

Sensing the quarterback he drafted in 2020, Jordan Love, was ready, Gutekunst opted to unplug the treadmill, start paying off the credit cards and hit the reset button.

It was time. As the No. 1 seed and with Aaron Rodgers winning MVP honors in 2020, the Packers couldn’t get to the Super Bowl. As the No. 1 seed and with Rodgers winning MVP honors again in 2021, the Packers couldn’t win a playoff game. With an enormous investment on the defensive side of the ball in 2022, the Packers failed to even make the playoffs.

What would be the game plan in 2023? It’s obvious through the first few days of free agency. If you’re waiting for the Packers to make a splash signing, well, I hope you’ve got a comfy chair, a good book and a big bag of chips.

Just look at the free agent spending in the NFC North. According to Spotrac, as of Friday evening, the Chicago Bears have spent $156.9 million, the Detroit Lions have spent $88.9 million and the Minnesota Vikings have spent $84.3 million. The Packers? Between signings and re-signings, they’ve spent $15.0 million.

Call it the financial reset.

“We’re living in a different Packers world,” one source said of how the team, while not exactly tanking, isn’t really trying to build a winner, either.

What’s happening on offense has been fascinating. Should Gutekunst give Love some veterans to catch his passes? Nah. Once the decision had been made to move on from Rodgers, the decision was made to move on from receiver Allen Lazard and tight end Robert Tonyan, who ranked first and third, respectively, in receptions.

“They were in talks with my agent,” Lazard said during his introductory news conference with the Jets on Friday. “But they didn’t seem like they were going to miss me too much or anything. I enjoyed my time there.”

Lazard and Tonyan are quality players who might have eased the transition at quarterback. But their history and rapport, experience and chemistry, are with Rodgers, not Love. The future of the passing game will be Love throwing to his guys: second-year receivers Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure and whatever tight end gets drafted in the early rounds.

With so little experience, the passing game might endure some growing pains in 2023 but, so long as the growing takes place, the gain will be worth the pain.

Call it the offensive reset.

It’s a similar theme on defense. In past offseasons, the Packers might have kept Dean Lowry and/or Jarran Reed on the defensive line. It’s such a hugely important position where there really is strength in numbers. Instead, with Reed returning to the Seahawks and Lowry joining the rival Vikings on modest contracts, the Packers have an alarming lack of depth that they’ll have to address in the draft.

If it all sounds bleak, it’s because it all sounds different.

Fielding a respectable team won’t be impossible in 2023, so long as Love isn’t terrible. Running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon will help carry the load. Watson looked like a star and Doubs flashed some high-level play. Gutekunst spoke highly of a 13-man offensive line that could be really good with David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins past their knee injuries. On defense, Rashan Gary will be back from his torn ACL, and Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas will make quarterbacks pay for wayward throws.

“There’s obviously a lot of unknowns right now but I really like the nucleus of guys we’ve got coming back,” Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine.

“We have some really young, promising players that are going to step into new roles, probably. So, I really like the nucleus of this team. It was very frustrating last year. We didn’t perform to our capabilities at times for a variety of reasons, but I’m excited about where this group can go.”

It’s funny. When you’re on a treadmill, you’re working really hard but not going anywhere. “This group” that Gutekunst is assembling for 2023 probably isn’t going anywhere, either.

But, from a big-picture perspective, this “nowhere” could be better than last year’s “nowhere.” The financial reset spurred by the forthcoming trade of Rodgers should be good for the team in the long run.

A lot will have to go right for the Packers to return to contender status in 2024 or 2025. The upcoming draft can't possibly fill all the holes. But the prospect of a young quarterback throwing to young receivers, coupled with some financial breathing room, could allow the Packers to rebound quickly.