The prognosticators did not envision the Green Bay Packers through seven games. Frankly, it’s not what the team imagined either. Yet, here the Packers are — one game below .500, nearing the halfway point of the season. And they have a daunting task staring them in the face on Sunday night in Buffalo.
A loss would drop the Packers to 3-5 and make the playoffs seem even bleaker. Don’t be fooled, though. This isn’t a franchise that would sell at the deadline, even if it was in the team’s best interest for now and the future. They’re just too stubborn for that.
Team president Mark Murphy announced this summer that he will retire on July 13, 2025. The date is specific to a bylaw the Packers have which forces board members to retire when they reach age 70. The rule applies to Murphy, who said so this summer.
When giving his address about his pending retirement in just a couple of years, Murphy made one thing clear: He plans on winning championships (yes, plural) before he hangs it up.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Packers president,” wrote Murphy. “I plan on making the last three years as successful as possible, with multiple Super Bowl championships!”
Murphy obviously has a lot of pull, being the president of the Packers. The idea of selling in 2022 with his retirement in 2025 looming just isn’t in the cards. Call it selfish. Call it a self-centered mindset — that’s fine. It isn’t going to happen.
Murphy doesn’t want to leave his post with a team in the middle of a rebuild with miserable years in the forecast. It’s a natural reaction, but one that could create a disaster in the near future.
Another massive angle to this would make it nearly impossible for the Packers to entertain the idea of selling.
That’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers hasn’t played anywhere close to his standard so far this year. After signing a whopping extension in the offseason, it was a deal made that could be the last Rodgers signs before calling it a career.
The extension for the back-to-back MVP was for three years and in the neighborhood of $150 million. You don’t give out that contract only to blow things up in 2022 and start a rebuild. Not only that, but also, good luck trying to convince a soon-to-be 39-year-old Rodgers that selling at the deadline this year is the right move.
As a result, the Packers are in a pickle.
Green Bay may turn this thing around to the point of snagging a wild card spot and sneaking in the backdoor of the playoffs. It’s also plausible that they could do some damage in an NFC that certainly lacks a team of the stature of the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs. Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are the lone unbeaten squad, but does anyone truly view them as untouchable come playoff time? That’s doubtful.
The trouble with shooting for a possible turnaround or a potential run in the playoffs is that it isn’t the standard the team has upheld. Getting to the playoffs under head coach Matt LaFleur has been a certainty. The only question in his first three years was whether or not they’d get the top seed in the NFC. Now, they’ll be lucky to get the last spot in the dance.
They’ve left themselves no choice but to buy or do nothing, given the structure of the team.
Green Bay’s title window very likely slammed shut last year in a disgustingly disappointing loss in the divisional round to Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers had things rolling entering the playoffs, and the returns of cornerback Jaire Alexander and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith were supposed to lift a defense that had done its job down the stretch. The defense held up its end of the bargain against the Niners, but the offense did not.
Instead of looking in the mirror this offseason and doing what the Seattle Seahawks did by trading Russell Wilson, the Packers opted to run it back. They rolled with Rodgers rather than turning the page to the Jordan Love era. It’s hard to blame the Packers for doing so, but that decision put in motion a plan to desperately try and keep a championship window cracked open. In reality, their best opportunities to capture the crown came in the previous two seasons.
Green Bay has tradable veteran players like outside linebacker Preston Smith and safety Adrian Amos. Running back Aaron Jones‘ contract will be damn near unfathomable to swallow next year. He should be a trade candidate because of his contract alone. Instead, the Packers will cling to their ego and not accept the fact that this just isn’t the makings of a championship team. The odds of turning it around this year to reach such heights are very slim.
Murphy is retiring in 2025 and doesn’t want to bow out in a rebuild, while Rodgers intends to spend his last couple or few years contending, no matter how unrealistic it seems this year.
All of it molds into one ball of chaos for a team that likely has the self-awareness to recognize it’s not in the same galaxy as the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs. However, they also know they have no choice but to keep investing in the decisions of the past.
Green Bay dug its own grave, and now they have to lie in it.
