Aaron Rodgers' real reason for being mad that the Packers drafted Jordan Love makes complete sense
It's no secret that former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn't very happy in 2020 when Jordan Love was drafted. The Packers selected Love, a former Utah State standout, with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Rodgers, who was 36 when Love was selected, was coming off a Pro Bowl […]
It's no secret that former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn't very happy in 2020 when Jordan Love was drafted.
The Packers selected Love, a former Utah State standout, with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Rodgers, who was 36 when Love was selected, was coming off a Pro Bowl season (in which he led the Packers to 13 wins) when Love was drafted by Green Bay.
At the time, most fans and analysts assumed that Rodgers didn't like the pick because Love was the "replacement" for the future Hall of Famer.
While I'm sure that was part of the reason why Rodgers didn't love the pick, the main reason he had issues with the selection (which was ultimately the beginning of the end for Rodgers in Green Bay) was because he felt like the Packers missed an opportunity to add a first-round talent to a roster that was coming off an NFC Championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Essentially, Rodgers felt like it was a massive missed opportunity to improve the Packers' chances of winning a championship.
“Did I wanna, years down the line, go, ‘Well, what if we had just taken somebody who could impact our team because we had just gone to the NFC Championship?’ Yeah, of course,” said Rodgers to The Athletic recently. “I don’t think any other competitor would say anything different.”
I think that's an understandable response from Rodgers. At that point, the only thing on Rodgers' mind was competing for a Super Bowl. And he felt like adding a player that could help immediately in 2020 would've been a smarter way to use Green Bay's first-round pick. When it comes to competing for a championship in 2020 (or even 2021 and 2022), Rodgers isn't wrong.
As for Rodgers' relationship with Love, the former Packer made it clear that he likes his successor.
“I like Jordan a lot,” said Rodgers. “Jordan’s a good dude. It’s tough to be a backup behind a future Hall of Famer. You’ve got to kinda find that sweet spot. I thought he did a great job with that, but he’s a good-hearted kid. It’s undetermined, his future, but from the physical standpoint, I thought he improved his fundamentals this last year.”
The Rodgers era is officially over and it's time for both parties to move on past the drama. But it's interesting to listen to Rodgers' point of view on how things went down in 2020. Perhaps if Green Bay had gone a different route, Rodgers would have another Super Bowl ring to show off right now.
Featured image via Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
