At the most basic level, the Packers find themselves in their current conundrum with Aaron Rodgers because they’re trying to solve the most important question in football: how do we make sure we have a good quarterback?
The Packers took Jordan Love — correctly or incorrectly — as insurance against the ravages of time. Whether it was 2020 or 2023 or some point in between or beyond, Aaron Rodgers would eventually no longer be the Packers’ quarterback, and Brian Gutekunst’s gamble was a hedge against ending up in a quarterback-less wasteland. Because let’s face it: in the NFL, either you have a quarterback who can make you a contender and you have a realistic shot at a Super Bowl or you don’t and you have no chance of going anywhere.