How much longer will Aaron Rodgers be on the Packers after drafting of Jordan Love?
Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay is suddenly a pressing question after the Packers traded up to take Jordan Love in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Green Bay Packers produced a stunner in the 2020 NFL Draft, trading up for Jordan Love in a move that begs the question, how much longer will Aaron Rodgers be on the team?
Green Bay traded picks 30 and 136 to the Miami Dolphins to move up to number 26 and select the prospect who now stands as the Packers’ quarterback of the future.
Love will need some time to mature and iron out some of the decision-making inconsistencies that plagued his final season at Utah State, where he threw 17 interceptions.
However, there is no question that he has the arm and the mobility to succeed in modern-day NFL, and he could hardly ask for a better mentor than one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.
Rodgers could be reticent to do much mentoring, however, knowing that Love is eventually coming for his job.
The two-time MVP has made no noises about retirement but plenty about wanting the Packers to improve the weapons around him. Green Bay’s decision in the first round indicates to Rodgers that the Packers are thinking more about a future without him.
So the quarterback who looked like being a Packer for life may be heading the same way as Brett Favre, who retired and then unretired in 2008 to play for the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings, with Rodgers taking his place as a starter having been drafted in 2005.
When will that Rodgers’ exit come? A look at his contract suggests it will not be too far around the corner.
According to Spotrac, the Packers can get out of Rodgers’ contract in 2022 and save nearly $40 million in cap space while paying only $17.2 million in dead cap.
That would allow them to play Love on his rookie contract and give them the flexibility to spend on any other positions in the 2022 offseason.
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Rodgers’ career in Green Bay has been a storied one but it looks to be entering its endgame. Packer fans must make sure to cherish the 2020 and 2021 seasons, as they could be his last at Lambeau Field.