^ DH, let's turn the clock back to Favre entering his prime... would you trade him?

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The Bears gave up more for Cutler than just a 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

First of all, we're not getting enough for Rodgers, regardless of how replacable he is. Even you have to agree that Rodgers is a top 10 QB. At his age, you don't move a top 10 QB for anything less than two 1st rounders.

Secondly, QB is not a position that's easily replacable. Sorgi and Painter didn't get that Colts offense anywhere. You have to have one hell of a supporting cast to cover up for having a bad QB. Just look at the kind of talent that Cassel was surrounded with in '08. He had the last year of that elite offense and defense in New England and he couldn't get them to the play-offs.

And I don't know how your math works, but we get 3 picks, you say that we could use a 3rd and a 4th to trade up to the 2nd and we somehow get 5 starters out of the trade?

Lastly, trading back out of that 1st overall pick will be really hard. And if we succeed, our starter will be either Matt Flynn or Kyle Boller, in this scenario.

Franchise QBs never get traded. And that's not because other teams aren't interested. You just don't trade them. The Broncos where in a horrible position with Cutler and they got two 1sts, a 3rd and Kyle Orton.

And let's be honest, Cutler's a good young QB, even borderline great in Denver, but he's never approached Rodgers' efficiency and play.

I wouldn't mind trading for Roethlisberger to be our veteran backup. He's certainly serviceable.

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I wanted to draw these points out with my question above, but you've cut to the point and I agree with you.

You'd have to replace Rodgers with one who you could start year in and year out. DH makes no mention of how to go about replacing him.

And then all of a sudden 3-4 more top 100 picks make us better, when you are missing someone adequate (at least) at QB? That's like saying the Vikings would be just as good if they did not have Favre at QB.

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Aaron Rodgers may be the best NFL quarterback in history to have fans openly (and dispassionately!) speculating about his value on the trade market while he is performing at a high level and before he has shown the slightest hint of character flaws on or off the field. It's quite remarkable.

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You're being too modest. If I really said what I'd wanted to about people actually okay with trading Rodgers... I'm pretty sure I'd be taking some time off from the site.

You. Don't. Trade. Potential. Hall. Of. Fame. Quarterbacks. (unless a breaking point comes)

Yes, I'm willing to call Rodgers a potential HOF QB this early in his career. I was sold on him after the Carolina game in the 08-09 season.

Dude is special.

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First off about the 4 or 5 starters and how we get them last time I checked we still had our 23rd pick and our 2nd so now thats 4 picks in the first 46.

Even at #1 we could take Suh and then at 23 we select Mays and with the 1st pick in the 2nd we take Clausen or McCoy and with our 2nd we select a CB or an OT.

Build up our defense and then as history has shown our QB doesnt have to be a superstar right away.

I'm just being objective here with the so called very deep draft this would be the time to do it.

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you wouldn't mind trading a 1st overall and a future first for a servicable backup? 😉 i would really like to have roethlisberger as a backup, too, it won't happen, though, plain and simple. this guy is an adequate starter in the nfl, but he's absolutely not worth the price this rumor indicates. it's all about the price.

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I thought that you meant that we'd get 5 starters in return for the trade. You're right, we would have 5 picks in the first 65 selections.

Teams that didn't have a superstar QB still had a pretty potent offense. Whether it be with QBs having career years (Brad Johnson) or great RBs (Jamal Lewis). And Dilfer didn't play like a slouch that year, either.

For that to succeed, though, you're going to need an absolutely dominant defense. It's possible, but it's a lot harder to get. It's actually a pretty dumb thing to do when you have a franchise QB who can lead you there, already.

Would Suh, Mays, McCoy and 2 more players in the 2nd really make up for giving up Rodgers? Suh's amazing, I couldn't agree more, but he can't make the impact that a QB can all by himself. Taylor "R. Williams" Mays surely won't lead our defense to greatness.

And then McCoy. You take a huge gamble by taking a QB with a pretty weak arm in the 2nd. The best to come out of the 2nd round recently? Tarvaris Jackson, Chad Henne and Kevin Kolb.

I don't care how deep this draft is, you don't just trade away your franchise QB.

If the trade looks anything like the Herschel Walker trade, I might not laugh at the team that calls me.

But that still doesn't answer the question of could we bring in a quarterback who would give us statistically significant improved production? My answer is no. There are only a handful of candidates to consider: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and perhaps Philip Rivers (whom I had hoped the Packers would draft). Tom Brady we can dismiss out of hand, as except for one season, he's never been a statistical dynamo. Philip Rivers' statistics have been only marginally better than Rodgers', with Rodgers having thrown 209 more yards over the past two seasons and Rivers having thrown 2 more TDs. In the end, the scale tips in favor of Rodgers, who has 8 more rushing TDs over the past two seasons and thus has scored 6 more TDs than Rivers.

Peyton Manning is an intriguing prospect, as he's averaged over 4000 yards and nearly 30 touchdowns every season since he came in the league; however, he's in his mid-30s, and it's questionable how much longer he can maintain his level of performance. Moreover, his statistics over the past two seasons have been uncannily similar to Rodgers', having thrown for 30 more total passing yards and 2 more passing touchdowns than Rodgers. Add in Rodgers' 9 rushing TDs, though, and he actually exceeds Manning's scoring output by 35 points.

That leaves Brees, who has had a mind-boggling couple of seasons, outthrowing Rodgers by an incredible 985 yards and tossing 10 more touchdowns. Add in their rushing TDs, though, and Brees only has 3 more TDs total.

So I say again: Whom could we bring in that would significantly improve our offense? And if the trade won't do that, what's the point?

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