Look, you’ll be able to’t deny absolutely the power of nature Aaron Rodgers was in Inexperienced Bay for effectively over a decade. He is a four-time NFL MVP and arguably the best thrower of the soccer to ever step foot on planet earth.
That does not imply the Packers weren’t proper for wanting to maneuver on from Rodgers, although.
In a latest report on The Athletic, beat author Matt Schneidman detailed a franchise that had set a succession plan in place — from Rodgers to Jordan Love, who the Packers moved as much as draft with the twenty sixth decide in 2020.
Positive, Rodgers gained two MVPs in a row after the choice of Love, however the trophy case at Lambeau Discipline remained unchanged.
In 2020-21, the Packers had been ousted by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers within the NFC Championship sport. In 2021-22, regardless of being the highest seed within the NFC playoffs, the Packers misplaced to the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Discipline in a sport during which Rodgers’ offense put up solely seven factors.
In opposition to the Detroit Lions in a must-win sport to get into the playoffs, Rodgers threw for simply 205 yards and a landing with a game-sealing interception.
Throw within the off-field drama plus the truth that Love had been rising as a quarterback whereas ready within the wings and it is sensible that Inexperienced Bay was prepared to maneuver on from the longer term Corridor of Famer.
The MVPs are nice. Being one of many best to ever do it’s nice. However the truth of the matter is that the Packers had been 1-4 in NFC Championship video games beneath Rodgers and on the time of this writing their final Tremendous Bowl win is over 10 years previously.
Speaking to Schneidman, Rodgers appeared to make it out that the messy divorce between the 2 sides in the end got here all the way down to Packers common supervisor Brian Gutekunst and the plan he enacted — and would not stray away from — in 2020.
“Did Brian textual content me greater than I texted him? Yeah, however did I ghost him? No,” Rodgers stated. “I texted him again. There was back-and-forths that we had and so that is the story you wanna go along with? You’re gonna stand on this hill of austerity and say that arguably within the dialog of one of the best participant in your franchise historical past, you’re gonna say I couldn’t come up with him and that’s why we needed to transfer on?
“Like, c’mon man. Simply inform the reality, you needed to maneuver on. You didn’t like the truth that we didn’t talk on a regular basis. Like, pay attention, I discuss to the those who I like.”
The Packers did need to transfer on, and Rodgers’ “I discuss to the those who I like” remark means that maybe he is nonetheless bitter about that.
That does not make Inexperienced Bay’s determination unsuitable, although. The outcomes had been the outcomes, and Rodgers simply could not get the Packers again over the hump.