Packers made bold move in going from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, and they were right

The Green Bay Packers were faced with a choice at some point last offseason, about the time “darkness retreat” hit our consciousness. Either continue on with a four-time NFL MVP quarterback or turn the page to a quarterback with one NFL start and 17 interceptions in his final college season at Utah State.

The safe move was to run it back with Aaron Rodgers. The right move ended up being giving Jordan Love a chance.

Much like the Packers’ then-controversial decision to turn to Rodgers over Brett Favre in 2008 and never look back, Green Bay made the call to trade Rodgers and give Love the starting job. Even if the relationship between the player and team was fraying and it seemed like it was time for both sides to try something new, it was still a jarring call to make. When you voluntarily move on from a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, jobs and legacies are on the line afterward.

The Packers chose the absolute unknown at quarterback over an icon. After Love was incredible in a playoff win at the Dallas Cowboys it not only looks like the right move, but one that could help the Packers remain contenders for the next decade.

Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers was one of the NFL’s hottest quarterbacks late in the season. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Why the Packers traded Aaron Rodgers

The Rodgers-to-Love shift was clumsy at times. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst indicated to reporters in late March that Rodgers’ refusal to answer calls from the team pushed him to start looking into a trade.

As part of the team’s postseason conversations about the 2023 season and beyond, the Packers wanted to talk to Rodgers but that didn’t happen.

“As you go through that process you kind of get an idea of where you’re going to move to as a team, how you’re going to go forward,” Gutekunst said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron to see how he fit into that. Those never transpired. There became a time we…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/packers-made-bold-move-in-going-from-aaron-rodgers-to-jordan-love-and-they-were-right-140047048.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-18 14:00:47

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.