The Packers' newly drafted quarterback faces a situation strikingly similar to the way Aaron Rodgers succeeded Brett Favre
- The Green Bay Packers shocked the NFL world on Thursday by trading up in the first round to select quarterback Jordan Love, a potential successor to Aaron Rodgers.
- The move mirrors the way Rodgers entered the league in 2005 as a potential replacement to Brett Favre, who had no intention of mentoring Rodgers or giving up his starting spot.
- Rodgers has said a rookie quarterback could not beat him out for the job, though he hasn't publicly commented on the Packers' recent draft decision.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
The Green Bay Packers made the most interesting move of the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday by trading up to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
Instead, the Packers picked a player who could end up being Rodgers' successor.
It's almost impossible to view the move in any other way. Not only is a first-round pick valuable draft capital, Love was regarded by many as one of the most talented players in the draft. He's also as player who needs major development, and what better way to develop a quarterback with immense physical tools than to have him study under Rodgers for a few years?
Aaron Rodgers entered the NFL under similar circumstances
The move also mirrors how Rodgers' career began: He was drafted in the first round to a team that already had a future Hall of Fame quarterback — Brett Favre. Rodgers was the 24th pick in the 2005 draft, when Favre was 35 years old.
Love was taken with the 26th pick on Thursday. Rodgers is 36.
"We get to [the 24th pick] and we got one name staring at us, and it's Aaron Rodgers," Brandt said. "We know we have the most durable quarterback in football, so I can just sense [in] the room to my right were the coaching rumblings where you could just sense they're like 'Oh my God, are we really going to do this? We're going to take a player that can't help us this year, maybe not next year, maybe not the year after, maybe never' ... It was one of those ultimate best-player-available decisions. But you look at the Green Bay Packers that year, that's the last thing you would think that we'd pick."
Similarly, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters on Thursday that the move to draft Love was a "long-term decision."
"When you go through the way things went tonight, you weigh short-term and long-term … it was the best decision for the Packers," he said.
Like Rodgers, Love enters a situation in which the starting quarterback has no interest in giving up his spot.
"No matter who you bring in, they're not going to be able to beat me out anytime soon," Rodgers told ESPN Milwaukee in March, after a question about the chance the Packers might draft a quarterback.
Rodgers later told Pat McAfee that he thought it would be "cool' if the Packers used their first-round pick on a skill-position player.
In 2005, after the Packers selected Rodgers, Favre distanced himself from a mentor role.
"My contract doesn't say I have to get Aaron Rodgers ready to play," Favre said at the time. "Now hopefully he watches me and gets something from that."
Rodgers isn't eyeing retirement soon
There are some differences in Favre's situation in 2005 and Rodgers' 2020 season, however. Favre signed a "lifetime" extension in 2001, which was really a six-year extension for salary-cap purposes, ABC reported at the time. So by 2005, he had limited years left and guaranteed cash remaining. Favre had also told reporters that he didn't envision playing beyond 2006.
Rodgers, meanwhile, signed a four-year, $134 million extension in 2018. So the Packers can't move on from him in the next two years without incurring giant cap hits. Rodgers has also talked about playing into his 40s and modeling his life similarly to Tom Brady.
Gutekunst said on Thursday that he had not spoken to Rodgers after selecting Love. Rodgers has not yet commented on the selection, so the NFL world is still waiting to see how a legendary quarterback not yet ready to give up his spot will react to his potential replacement.
- Read more:
- The 26 best players still available after the first round of the NFL draft
- Jerry Jones appeared to make picks for the NFL draft from his $250 million super-yacht
- The Las Vegas Raiders' first-round pick wore a bathrobe during the NFL draft, and fans loved it
- Map shows where every state stands in the Michael Jordan-LeBron James GOAT debate