Packers: Three ways Aaron Rodgers situation can be solved

What if Rodgers is traded?

All offseason long, we’ve heard rumors about where Rodgers could be traded. This has only heated up since the report of Rodgers’ desire to not return. Ian Rapoport reported during the draft that the Denver Broncos would be one of his “potential preferred destinations”.

None of that matters if the Packers aren’t willing to trade him, and so far they’ve been adamant they won’t.

But what if that situation changes?

For starters, we can assume the Packers would only consider trade offers to an AFC team, which is a reason why the Broncos could make sense. Denver somewhat surprisingly didn’t draft a quarterback in the first round despite having Justin Fields available.

Financially, it would be complicated. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, if the Packers trade Rodgers prior to June 1, his 2021 cap hit would rise slightly to $38.35 million, despite no longer being on the roster. If they trade him post-June 1, they’d take on a $21.15 million cap hit in 2021 and a $17.2 million hit next year.

In terms of what it means for the football side of things, we can assume it would speed up the transition to Jordan Love. It wouldn’t necessarily mean he would start in 2021 as the option would be to sign a free agent like Nick Mullens or Blake Bortles. In the short term, the Packers would struggle to win games.

But the attention would have to shift to long term. It would no longer be about the present and going all in, instead building a team around Love. Perhaps they’d trade away older players on the roster for future picks, along with a boatload they’d receive in any Rodgers deal, and start over.

They’d then need to determine whether Love is indeed the answer at QB or whether they’d need to draft another passer early in an upcoming draft.

So many questions would follow a Rodgers trade, but one thing is for sure: Green Bay would enter rebuild mode.