The Green Bay Packers have a huge, franchise-altering choice to make, and the rest of the league is watching. After trading up to select quarterback Jordan Love in the NFL Draft last year, questions have been swirling about the future of Aaron Rodgers, and while both Rodgers and the Pack seem committed to each other for now, the lack of a new and restructured contract for Rodgers has given folks much to wonder about.
On last week’s episode of The Football GM podcast, Mike Sando of The Athletic and former New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller talked about the upcoming draft with an emphasis on teams with picks in the top 10. When discussing what the Denver Broncos — who currently sit at No. 9 — should do, Mueller got scandalous.
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Mueller: Broncos Should Go All In on Rodgers
Mueller, who was named NFL Executive of the Year while with the Saints in 2000, said that based on his experience in the league, the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers doesn’t look all that fixable right now. “That bridge seems to be burning just a little bit more every day,” he said, before proposing the following trade scenario:
“What if the Broncos just went all in at nine and gave next year’s pick and anything else to the Packers for Aaron Rodgers? Whatever they had to do go get him, I don’t care if we gotta put…Von Miller, put him in there too, put them all in.”
“That bridge seems to be burning a little bit more every day we go.”
Would the Packers have to listen if the Broncos went all in on Aaron Rodgers?
@SandoNFL and @RandyMueller_ discuss on ‘The Football GM’
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Mueller Thinks Broncos GM George Paton Could Be a Factor
Noting the Broncos could test Green Bay to see how much the team really wants Jordan Love to be the future of the franchise, Mueller thinks a draft day trade for Rodgers could be a win-win for both teams. Mueller also knows current Broncos GM George Paton, who is very familiar with the work of Rodgers from his recent tenure as assistant GM and vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings. Paton was with the Vikings from 2007-2020 in various roles, so he has seen what the reigning MVP can do up close.
“Here’s why I think it might make some sense to the Packers. If I’m them, I’m worried a little bit about what Aaron Rodgers’ next move is gonna be,” Mueller said. “He might just tell them to shove it, right? … I see a divorce coming here sooner than I thought initially. If I’m George (Paton) — and I know George and he knows talent — I just might go all in any way I can to get things stirred up a little bit more in Green Bay.”
Packers Could Cash in Big Time With a Rodgers Trade
Noting the Broncos offense was in “shambles,” Mueller also said he thinks Rodgers would be worth trading the farm for if you’re Denver. “They’ve been in the middle of every quarterback deal, they just haven’t pulled it off,” he said about Vic Fangio’s squad.
Mueller also thinks that if the Packers are eventually going to move on from Rodgers, they should just go ahead and do it now, when he’s coming off an MVP season. “The longer Green Bay keeps Aaron Rodgers, his value is going to start to go down at some point,” he said.
“You picked Jordan Love, you’ve gotta live with this thing,” Sando added.
Mueller also noted that if Rodgers wants to force Green Bay into a decision about its future, he has the power to do so. While a draft day trade for Aaron Rodgers should be filed under interesting yet highly implausible scenarios — which Sando and Mueller acknowledge — they do have a point. The Packers made their bed after their decisions on draft day last year, and sooner or later, they’re going to have to lie in it.
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Ex-GM Urges Packers & Broncos to Make Huge QB Trade