March 7 will go down as one of the most consequential days in recent NFL history, with both Aaron Rodgers re-cementing his commitment to the Green Bay Packers and Russell Wilson moving to the Denver Broncos. These events will cause waves lapping up on the shores of all 32 franchises, which we will do our best to dissect here. This is far more than a Russell Wilson story or a Packers story. What happened on Tuesday was a reflection of modern clout, power and the way the business is trending.
Here is what we saw from our vantage point:
WINNERS
Brian Gutekunst
I’m not sure the Packers, even a few days ago, thought this was going to happen the way that it did. Now that it has, Brian Gutekunst ends up being the person who rescued the franchise’s wayward relationship with perhaps its all-time greatest player. The first-round quarterback he drafted to replace Rodgers served as somewhat effective leverage and they’ll now, because of the dismal draft class, be able to recoup most of the spent draft equity on Jordan Love. I’d personally be surprised if he goes for less than a second-round pick and maybe some kind of incentivized late-round pick. The argument for many would be that Love is better and more seasoned than any of the top prospects coming up this year.
Of course, this all could have blown the other way. Rodgers could have tested the waters elsewhere. He could have burned down the forest behind him. He could have made Gutekunst into the Guy Who Forced Aaron Rodgers Out. Instead, through some strategic patience, the Packers executive has now navigated two situations that, for a less composed individual, might have resulted in utter chaos.
Before this, it was the hiring of Matt LaFleur and the transitioning from a Mike McCarthy locker room full of tenured veterans. There is a reason good franchises find themselves in the playoffs almost every year regardless of massive internal changes.
Aaron Rodgers
While I personally credited Rodgers with brilliantly winning a power struggle, I’m still not entirely sure how he did it, or what ultimately would have been different if he decided to just sign a long-term extension sooner. He ends up boxing out Jordan Love and forcing the former first-round pick to play elsewhere. He probably gets another Randall Cobb-ian signing somewhere along the line. He gets the assurance that his power will go unchecked in Wisconsin for however much longer he decides to play football.
All of this is a wonderful peace of mind. Beating back the idea that a franchise can challenge you at any moment or change their stance on you in the long-term gives you the freedom to end your career the way you would like to end it. You are shielded from some kind of unceremonious dumping and you have probably scared the franchise into not squandering your remaining years like the Patriots did with Tom Brady, or the Lions did throughout the entirety of Matthew Stafford’s career.
Another aspect of this that has gone unnoticed: I don’t think Rodgers is like Tom Brady or Matthew Stafford in that, if he were to go somewhere else, the end product isn’t automatic success. We had the same doubts about Brady, who ultimately proved us wrong. But Rodgers is so incredibly particular. He grooms his coaches, his receivers. He is not as easy to plug and play. This situation avoids what could have been an unsatisfyingly rocky end to a wonderful career.
Jordan Love
At the very least, Jordan Love emerged Tuesday as the best young, unproven option for QB-needy teams heading into draft season. As we mentioned before. Gutekunst has the option to trade him now and could come close to recouping his investment (maybe he gets a mid-second rounder instead of a late first). I think this ends up being the best scenario, and something Green Bay ultimately owes a quarterback who was something of a leverage play for them for so long. If Love gets a fresh start somewhere, he is absolutely a winner here. No one wants to hold a clipboard for the entirety of their rookie deal and then get jettisoned out into the real world with no true market value. While he doesn’t have the ability to rattle the Packers’ front office the way Rodgers did, Rodgers’s flailings certainly create an opening for Love to express some competitive unhappiness about the situation and a desire to seek a trade elsewhere.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/09/winners-and-losers-nfl-aaron-rodgers-packers-russell-wilson-seahawks-trade-broncos