Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers talks to quarterback Aaron Rodgers during overtime against the New England Patriots at Lambeau Field on October 2, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers appear ready to move on from Aaron Rodgers, but they could still pivot and go all in for one last ride.
That philosophy was the premise of a pitch from ESPN’s Football Outsiders on March 3, in which the Packers keep backup quarterback Jordan Love on the shelf for a fourth season and burn through their short- to mid-term financial future to maximize a prospective Super Bowl window over the last year or two of Rodgers’ historically huge contract.
The gist of the proposal is to execute trades with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for four-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and also do a deal with the Los Angeles Rams to bring in three-time All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Packers Must Mortgage Future to Make Super Bowl Play For Evans, Ramsey
GettyCornerback Jalen Ramsey of the Los Angeles Rams reacts during Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
The Packers are currently $17.5 million under the salary cap after a handful of restructures to the contracts of RB Aaron Jones, DT Kenny Clark, CB Jaire Alexander and OLB Preston Smith. More space can also be cleared by reconfiguring the deals of OT David Bakhtiari and OLB Rashan Gary.
Green Bay is not expected to go wild on the trade or free agent markets this offseason, which Football Outsiders noted explicitly in its argument, but a proverbial Hail Mary to bring back the four-time MVP and make a push for a Super Bowl berth in a weak NFC could set off a chain reaction of personnel moves like the one that catapulted the Rams to a title just two years ago.
If the Packers want to get Rodgers out of dark mode, off the trade market and back in the business of bringing another Super Bowl to Green Bay, they just have to whisper some magic words in his ear.
“We traded for Jalen Ramsey. Or Mike Evans. Or, would you believe, both? We are all-in behind you for 2023.”
Such moves may sound impossible given the Packers’ cap situation, but anything is possible for a team willing to burn all its resources and shutter its windows after its Hall of Fame quarterback departs. This is the year to either toss the deed to the ranch into the pot or step away from the table.
The Rams will be motivated to move Ramsey, who won’t be a happy camper on a cash-strapped non-contender. The Buccaneers have no use for Evans now that they are enacting post-[Tom] Brady austerity measures. The Packers, if they’re willing to be aggressive, just might be able to grab some Pro Bowlers from estate auctions and assemble a posse that will make Rodgers want to ride again.
Packers Advised to Trade For Big Names, Keep Aaron Rodgers at QB
GettyWide receiver Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs with the ball during the NFC Wild Card Playoff Game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium on January 16, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Green Bay can opt to go the other way and eat around the edges with additions like wide receiver Kenny Golladay and tight end Austin Hooper in free agency. But those players won’t move the needle, even in the NFC, where true contenders like the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles lay in wait.
Pursuing big-name trades that will cost the draft capital the Packers would otherwise use to build for the future would be a bold move, indeed, but there is no reward absent risk in the parody-soaked NFL.
Rodgers is capable of winning a Super Bowl. That’s a known fact, even though it happened just once a dozen years ago. Love is presumably a good player with a short resumé and is a question mark at best for a franchise that has spent the last 30 years with a Hall of Fame player lining up under center. The choice is play for now or bet on an uncertain future while relying on relatively unknown and unproven entities.
“The worst thing the Packers can do this offseason is wait around for Rodgers to emerge from his cocoon while they make the same little cost-effective signings and future-focused draft selections they traditionally make,” Football Outsiders wrote. “The Packers might as well throw some draft picks at rebuilding contenders such as the Rams and Bucs to see what they can accomplish before they are forced to join them.”