In the 2020 NFL draft, the Green Bay Packers selected Jordan Love. A move that shocked the fanbase, Aaron Rodgers, and the NFL world as a whole. Not only did they take a quarterback after losing in the NFC championship game, but they also traded up for the selection. No one was happy with the move and nearly 4 years later it has come full circle. With Aaron Rodgers staying more likely by the day, it’s time to decide what happens to Love.
An Unfortunate Situation
Jordan Love was a raw prospect coming out of college, having insane arm talent but lacking any key fundamentals. There were rumors leading into the draft that the Packers were infatuated with Love but no one took them seriously. Despite the Packers having serious needs at linebacker and wide receiver they went with Love at the 26th overall pick. Packers fans were distraught, and this marked the beginning of the Rodgers drama. Nothing against Jordan Love but picking a backup quarterback in the first round makes no sense when you were one game away from the Super Bowl. Love was always going to be a project and he landed in a great situation for development. Outside of that, he wouldn’t see the field for the next three years at least once he got drafted.
Shaky Start
Jordan Love was thrown into the fire as an underdeveloped, raw quarterback against one of the best teams in the NFL the Chiefs. Rodgers was out due to covid protocol, and Love had to make his first career start in one of the noisiest stadiums. Although the defense held the Chiefs offense to 13 points, the Packers offense was horrible. Mental mistakes made by veterans and crucial drops made it almost impossible for Love to get going. Along with that, the offensive line decided to not show up that game either, making Love get sacked once and hit 7 times. Love does deserve some of the blame as he was anxious in the pocket, missed wide-open receivers, and kept forcing the ball to Adams. His final stats were 19/34, 190 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a passer rating of 69.5. That’s not what you want from a future franchise quarterback, but he did show flashes with his arm talent.
Bad Finish
In the final game of the 2021 season, Love came in the second half against the Lions to show the team what he’s developed into. The Packers were down 4 going into the third, and the whole team decided to sell. The defense was non-existent, allowing 37 points to a horrible Lions team. The offense also hit a standstill and only scored 3 points in the 3rd. The 4th is when Jordan Love started cooking, having one drive of marching the team down the field and scoring. He also had a huge 62-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Deguara that brought the Packers ahead. To end the game, Love’s two final drives both ended in interceptions. The first one was his fault because he completely missed a wide-open guy. The second one wasn’t his fault, it was Packers Legend Amari Rodgers bobbling a pass across traffic and basically handing the game to the Lions.
Offseason
Coming off of a brutal loss to the 49ers at home in the playoffs, there was a lot of uncertainty within the team. There were rumblings of Rodgers and Adams both wanting to be traded, and that the front office was fed up with Rodgers. All of the turmoil was a huge distraction to the team, but Love stayed working with his teammates by going to all camps and practices, unlike Rodgers. Love was happy he was getting his chance to get consistent first-team snaps, but still welcomed Rodgers back when he inevitably returned. Reports came out that he was distraught at the new contract Rodgers brought in, which implied Love wouldn’t be starting for another 4 years at least. This is when Love started fitting into his own personality and decided he was ready to start.
The 2022 Season
The 2022 season was a complete disaster, to put it bluntly. Nothing worked on either side of the ball consistently the whole year and fans were distraught. Love played a few snaps here and there throughout the year when the Packers had no chance of winning and didn’t really do anything crazy. Then, the Eagles game happened. Rodgers got hurt and Love came in to replace him. He went off, going 6/9, 113 yards, 1 touchdown, and a rating of 92.9. Fans were in awe of his performance and wanted him to start the rest of the year since we weren’t making the playoffs anyways. That unfortunately did not happen, as the team pushed for the last playoff spot up until the end, where they fell short against the Lions. Reports came out that Love wants out if Rodgers stays again towards the tail end of the season. This makes complete sense for Love since his first 3 years have been used watching Rodgers play. The front office seems split according to more reports, with some wanting to move on from Rodgers and others wanting him to return. There’s no way to know for certain, but it’s starting to feel like Rodgers is returning.
What’s Going to Happen?
Genuinely, I have no idea what’s going to unfold this off-season. I see it as two options at this point. The first option is to trade Rodgers for draft capital, build around love, and be a fringe playoff team at best next year. The pros of scenario one are avoiding serious cap restrictions the next two years, having LaFleur gain control of the offense (debatable), and having a bright future in Green Bay. The cons are obviously trading away the greatest quarterback in franchise history along with gaining a considerable amount of dead cap this year. Scenario two is keeping Rodgers, trading Love for draft capital, and trying to re-sign Rodgers “guys” for a playoff run this year. The pros are keeping a first-ballot hall-of-famer at quarterback, gaining a second or first-rounder this year to add to the offense, and having good odds of making the playoffs. The cons are the fact the cap will be destroyed for the next few years, having no future plan for a quarterback, and gambling the future for a mediocre playoff run (most likely). It’s pretty safe to say that Rodgers and Love will not be on the same roster next year, with one of them on the chopping block. Love wants to start and has a 20 million-dollar 5th-year option that the Packers can’t pick up with Rodgers on the team. It’s going to be an unfortunate end for one of these guys, and regardless of which path the team chooses, fans are going to be heated.
