Packers: What’s next after heartbreaking end to the ‘Last Dance’?
What if Aaron Rodgers demands a trade from Packers?
Rodgers has to be tired of playoff losses. He’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for over a decade, but only has one ring to show for it. Much of the blame rests on his shoulders.
Against the Niners, he completed 20/29 passes for just 225 yards and no touchdowns. He often missed his throws low, not giving his receivers much of a chance to do anything after the catch. But despite Rodgers and the offense’s struggles, Maurice Drayton and the special teams are the reason the Packers lost this game.
Drayton always seemed like a questionable hire. Promoting internally from one of the worst special teams units in the NFL always felt like a bad idea. It was a poor decision from Matt LaFleur, and one that eventually lead to the downfall of the Packers’ season.
In the loss to the 49ers, the Packers allowed a field goal to be blocked, a kickoff to be returned to the 50-yard line (leading to a Niners field goal), and a punt to be blocked and returned for a touchdown. On the last play of the game, the Packers only had 10 players on the field to try to block the Niners’ game-winning field goal attempt.
In this scenario, Rodgers’ patience with the Packers finally runs out. He looks at the 2014 NFC Championship Game and this year’s divisional round losses and sees a team that doesn’t go all-in by playing starters on special teams.
He looks at last year’s NFC Championship Game loss and sees a team that drafted his replacement instead of going all-in on him and trying to get that one piece they needed to move past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He feels like Green Bay is wasting his talents, so he demands to play elsewhere.
The Packers have no choice but to trade him. If they don’t, and he doesn’t play, they’ll have a $46.4 million cap hit riding the bench, per Spotrac. Obviously, that’s not a winning formula. If Rodgers leaves, Davante Adams likely does as well, unless the Packers decide to franchise tag him. Spotrac projects, it would cost the Packers $18.5 million to franchise tag Adams.
A Rodgers trade would open up about $20 million in cap space. Although it wouldn’t totally fix the Packers’ salary cap issues, it would help tremendously. Additionally, the Packers would be able to net a king’s ransom in return for the likely MVP.
The Denver Broncos seem like a potential landing spot for Rodgers. They have a talented defense and strong playmakers on offense, and with $44.8 million available in 2022 salary cap (per Spotrac), they’d likely be able to both trade for Rodgers and sign Adams in free agency.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, a trade package for Rodgers from the Broncos could look something like this. Breer wrote:
"“Broncos get: QB Aaron Rodgers, 2022 seventh-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick. Packers get: 2022 first-round pick (13th overall), 2023 first-round pick, 2024 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick, 2022 second-round pick (from Rams), QB Drew Lock, TE Albert Okwuebunam, WR K.J. Hamler.”"
This package would give the Packers a great head start towards rebuilding around 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love. The plethora of draft picks would allow Green Bay to try to find young, affordable players to fill the holes left by players who left in free agency.
Drew Lock would bring another young, talented quarterback into Green Bay, possibly as competition to Love. Former second-round pick K.J. Hamler would partner with 2021 third-round pick Amari Rodgers to try to rebuild the Packers’ receiving room.
Love struggled in his lone NFL regular season action, completing 19 of his 34 passes for just 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. However, he was able to make some plays, especially towards the end of the game. The Packers would lean into that potential, hoping that Love really is the future, and not a waste of a draft pick that tore a franchise apart.