Packers: 5 things Green Bay can’t do this offseason
4. Can’t give the backup job to Brett Hundley in 2018
We saw what happened when the Packers got complacent behind Rodgers before last year. It almost came back to hurt them in 2013 when the Packers were forced to trot out Matt Flynn, Scott Tolzien and Seneca Wallace, but Rodgers was able to come back just in time to beat the Bears in Week 17 to win the division.
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The Packers are a Super Bowl contender with Rodgers, but they need to find a way to still be contenders when he gets hurt. Whether it’s for seven plays or seven weeks, the Packers haven’t been able to figure that out. Rodgers is a superstar and can elevate the play of any roster around him. No matter who you have behind him there’s going to be a significant drop off, but it can’t be as big as it has been the two times Rodgers missed significant time.
Brett Hundley showed flashes, but it took too long to get him up to speed. The Packers offense is a complex system and Hundley didn’t have any consequential game experience prior to his time replacing Rodgers last year. That’s just not something you can afford as an organization when your expectation is to win championships.
Hundley now has some experience and may be able to approach the situation differently if he was forced into action again, but it’s too late for him. Hundley needs competition at the position in camp. He can’t be handed the keys to what might be the best backup job in the NFL. That has to be earned.
The Packers have enough picks to take a flier on a late-round quarterback and can sign a veteran in free agency. I would accept nothing less.