5 big Green Bay Packers mistakes that doomed the team in 2022

1. Giving Aaron Rodgers a huge contract extension

The right time to trade Aaron Rodgers was a year ago. Green Bay had again failed in the postseason, despite securing home-field advantage with the NFC's top seed.

We can talk about special teams all day long when referring to the Packers' divisional-round exit to the San Francisco 49ers. But remember that the Packers' offense scored 10 points in that game. Aaron Rodgers had zero touchdown passes. Not the type of performance you expect from your four-time MVP quarterback.

If the 2020 and 2021 Packers couldn't get over the line, how were the 2022 Packers going to do it with limited cap space and a ton of key players hitting free agency?

It was time. Instead of trading Rodgers to the Denver Broncos in a blockbuster deal that could have possibly netted multiple first-rounders, the Packers decided to hand Rodgers a three-year extension worth $150.8 million.

A contract that took away the option to release him, and one that will leave the Packers with a dead cap hit of $40.3 million when they trade him this offseason, per Over The Cap.

Brian Gutekunst has made a number of smart decisions as Packers GM. Handing Rodgers a huge extension and trading Adams days later? By far his worst.