Every talking head, national pundit, and blue checkmark you’ve ever heard of is currently lined up around the corner ready to tell Packer fans how different things are going to be without Aaron Rodgers. As if it’s something they don’t realize. Kyle Brandt essentially put on a one-man show when he dramatically attempted to prepare Cheeseheads for life without a Hall of Famer.
“You sweet, sweet people…you people of Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Baraboo…You have no idea what it’s like they’re out there. You are trust fund fans. You’ve never had to worry. You’ve never had anybody else but a first ballot quarterback for your lives…We’re not just talking about young people in high school who don’t remember, we’re talking about people who are in their 30s with children and families who think that’s just what you do. You don’t have to worry about quarterbacks, it’s always going to be the killer.
Believe me as someone who grew up in Chicagoland and they’ve been looking for a quarterback for over 100 years it’s rough out there. There are soup kitchens, you are standing around a barrel fire hoping that some quarterback will come play for you that’s even decent. I think there’s a hubris of some Packers fans who just say ‘get him out of here we’re sick of him. He’s too weird, he drinks strange tea.’ You know what he drinks? He drinks the tears of Bears fans every single year, normally twice a year…How dare you celebrate that man’s departure. I’m telling you watch what happens when you’re 0-2 0-3 and Rodgers is in New York just cooking and you go ‘well Jordan Love isn’t the next Hall of Famer.’ Just be very careful throwing Mardi Gras because the best player you’ve ever had, not a debate, is leaving and you guys are gonna be trading him.”
This take is so tired.
The problem with Kyle(other than his Bears affiliation), and all of the other national pundits, is they discuss these situations in a vacuum. They rarely use proper context. Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love? That’s as obvious as it gets. But Green Bay doesn’t need Jordan Love to be Aaron Rodgers. Hell, they might not even need him to be their quarterback long term. What they need is to match a young inexpensive QB who is outplaying his value with a roster that allows the TEAM to win a Super Bowl. If that’s Jordan Love, great. If it’s not. Okay, moving on.This move isn’t a bet on JJordan Love. This move is a bet on building a different type of football team than the one that hasn’t gotten across the finish line the last few years.
Aaron Rodgers will likely have huge success in New York. Their roster is perfect for an aging superstar quarterback. They hit on multiple draft picks multiple years in a row. They currently have a handful of superstars on rookie contracts. That is what you need if you are going to pay someone the massive amount that Rodgers receives.
But every team and situation has to be assembled differently. Before last season, no quarterback in the past 20 years had won a Super Bowl while earning more than 13% of his team’s salary cap.
What the Packers need to focus on now is what the Jets have just finished doing. They need to build the sort of roster that you can put a quarterback on top of. It’s what the 49ers and Eagles did last year on their way to the NFC championship.
Everybody wants to talk about Brock Purdy, but look at that roster. Tom Brady’s dad could lead the Niners to the playoffs. Jalen Hurts is about to get a gigantic contract. We are going to find out if he is more Hall of Famer or Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins. Once those big contracts kick in you learn the true value of a quarterback. If Kirk or Dak were to sign for $20 million a year their teams would quickly catapult to Super Bowl contenders.
Obviously anyone would rather have a Hall of Fame quarterback than not. But that is not the only way to build a Super Bowl champion. The Baltimore Ravens won just as many titles as the Packers in far fewer years with Joe Flacco and Trent Dilfer. We get it, it sucks to lose Rodgers and it’ll be tough if Jordan Love isn’t any good. But maybe it’s time for the focus in Green Bay to be on building a proper roster and spending very little money on the quarterback position. The Packers last Super Bowl run came during Rodgers rookie contract. Coincidence?
It’s possible removing Hall of Fame quarterback money leads to a team that is just a decent cheap quarterback away from a magical run.
