With Aaron Rodgers’ recent statement regarding Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers’ philosophy, his return to Green Bay becomes less likely by the day. Fortunately, according to Madden, the Packers may be fine without the reigning MVP.
Will Brinson decided to run five different simulations in Madden to see what would happen when the Packers trade Rodgers, and, well, it may make some fans smile.
And let’s be real here, you didn’t click on this article because you thought a Madden simulation would have any impact on real life, and that is 100% correct. It’s a video game. So let’s have some fun with it.
Also, keep in mind the game has not updated to the 17-game schedule for these simulations.
In one simulation, Rodgers replaced Tua Tagovailoa in Miami. In this simulation, the Miami Dolphins went a disappointing 6-10. In what most people feel is a very likely scenario, Rodgers was traded to the Denver Broncos, and it didn’t go any better than his time in Miami. He again went 6-10 with his new team. And in yet another rumored landing spot, the Las Vegas Raiders managed to trade for Rodgers. He actually surpassed 6-10 and finished with an 8-8 record. Very typical of the Raiders.
Rodgers ended up in the highly competitive NFC South twice in this simulation. He finished 7-9 with the New Orleans Saints, an underwhelming finish compared to what they could do with the recently retired Drew Brees. But in Rodgers’ second tour of the NFC South, he actually did quite well. He helped lead the Carolina Panthers to a 12-4 record, even making the playoffs in the wild card round.
Unfortunately, they lost to their divisional rival, the Saints. New Orleans ironically missed the playoffs with Rodgers as their quarterback but made the NFC Championship with the likes of Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston at the helm.
Depending on your viewpoint of Rodgers and the current situation with him and the management, you may be relieved to see him flame out with other teams. You may see this as a way to make Rodgers more appreciative of what he has in Green Bay. He only averaged 7.8 wins per season on any other team. And if we look at how the Packers finished in these simulations, it may shine some light on how good Rodgers actually has it in Green Bay.
Conversely, no matter what you think of Jordan Love, most people would agree that they would rather have Rodgers under center.
Well, with Love at the helm, he led the Packers to the Super Bowl in three out of the five simulations.
These three appearances resulted in a championship win over the Baltimore Ravens, and Love played increasingly better in every simulation. Well, I guess the Packers should trade Rodgers immediately because of this. I sure as hell want to see a Love vs. Jackson Super Bowl.
Maybe LeFleur’s recent comments about Love hold a lot more weight than we realize.
If you don’t believe LeFleur’s recent comments, maybe the tape will prove it to you:
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Regardless of this simulation, Love has looked like he has improved a lot so far this offseason.
Wanna know the scary part about this simulation? Madden has been right 64% of the time in Super Bowl matchup predictions, dating back to 2004. That’s pretty accurate. It’s probably better than your favorite NFL analyst. Though there is a huge difference between selecting from two teams in one game compared to picking a whole season, Madden has actually proven to be fairly accurate in most simulations.
In no way am I saying that this is a sign to dump off Rodgers. It’s a Madden simulation, for Christ’s sake. It means nothing. However, it is somewhat reassuring to see the Packers take the next step with Love at the helm, while Rodgers regresses with every team he joins.
