Lots of good wishes for AR in NY (like hoping he wins a ring with the Jets). Not from me. He will always be a favorite Packer, but now he’s completely dead to me. After he plays 65% of the snaps, his success works opposite the best interest of the Packers. I hope he plays the full season and that they lose all their games so we get the highest pick possible. If the Jets win a SB, we do not. That is an unacceptable thing for any Packer fan to hope for.

Excellent article Al !

G&G: I have a dream", too.

1) AR plays enough of the 2023 season plus 1 extra play which results in the Packers receiving the Jets 2024 first round pick

2) AR loses all his games, he is benched for "Insert backup QB name", and the Jets continue lose their remaining games

3) Packer receive the first pick of the 2024 draft (the winless Jets pick).

4) Feb 11, 2024 - Jordan Love is the voted MVP of Super Bowl LVIII and hoists the Lombardi trophy in Vegas. Gutey provides Davante and Mr. Rodgers special comfy seats in the Packer's SB skybox and all the Carry the G beer they can drink.

5) Packers use the 2024 NFL first pick however they want. Pick the best available or trade down for a ridiculous number of high round picks in 2024 and 2025. Perhaps the Jets are willing to trade.

6) AR retires after the Jets 2023 season. He receives accelerated entry into the Packer Hall of Fame and is honored at the GBP's 2024 home game opener.... but, just before that special honor, the 2023 Packer "Team" receive their SB LVIII rings.

A guy can dream big, can't he?

PS: Thank for the memories Aaron Charles Rodgers, and GPG!

Good analysis, HH. Probably an accurate take.

Nice, Harry!

I think deep down we all know that’s going to blow up in their faces. Not right away. There’s going to be all kinds of highs early on, but a 17 game schedule is a very long season, especially without a solid/deep OL.

That AFC East division is no push over either. Not like the ever touched Bears, Vikings & Lions he knows only too well.

With any luck, that 2024 R1 the Packers receive from NYJ becomes a Top 10 pick.

Agree, Harry.

I'm always buffled when old wisdom came out to be truth. The accuser of others never do what he accused others, yet insisted to receive that. Thief will be first who will shout: "Hold the thief!"

He complained how Packers never talked honestly with him. He said that he would prefere if they told him at the end of the season: "We plan to move and be much younger!" Wow! I know that was another punch to Brian Gutekunst, trying to show him as double-faced, so he was not be honest with him. It turned out to be just opposite.

I said in the middle of the season that ACR looks to me as he is boring to play football, somewhat disinterested what is going on, will they win or not. I'm glad to learn that I was not the only one who thought about that. BUt, I was silenced here with complaints "how I can say that, the man is ultimate competitor!"

But, OK. Wish him luck with Jets and if stars aline in the way that Packers finish this season (or next) in SB vs Jets, it will be pure gold to see Jordan Love wins with his teammates over Jets and ACR.

Can’t argue the hierarchy there. Agree 100%. Sadly, that really went sideways. It may take some time to fully recover, but my sense is many on this team probably feel they have the proverbial weight lifted off their shoulders.

Anything can happen with this much young talent, not knowing any better. I guess that’s what has me most excited about 2023.

A few years ago I read an article quoting a player (forget who) about Wolf's all business and no nonsense persona when greeting rookies.

Ron Wolf: "Welcome to the Green Bay Packers. You will be here until I can replace you."

This might have been true in the 50s, 60s, 70s. But in the modern era, we see the most important position on the field with a Hall of Fame talent, they absolutely have a relationship with the front office, with coaches and have and deserve a say in offensive planning, etc.

This has been true with Brady, Peyton Manning, and others. There's no way a guy who's been there 17 years and won a Super Bowl, more MVPs than anyone not named Manning is not going to need to have a solid and communicative relationship with the front office. Stars in any sport, players who can put wins in the win column and fans in the seats (and watching at home) carry a lot of sway, as they should.

The Holmgren situation is not comparable. It would be comparable to the McCarthy/Rodgers relationship of the first 6 years, as that is the part of Favre's career where Holmgren actually coached, not his final seasons when he'd broken most of the passing records for the franchise and some for the league.

Perfectly stated by a man who obviously understands business, JB27, thanks for well-worded post.

Yes, I would not mind the Jets winning the Super Bowl, just not next year. We need a higher round 1 draft choice, not number 32.

They can win it the following year!

I don't give a lick about the NYJ and Aaron Rodgers. All I care about is that the OL of the Jets doesn't get him killed so we get that #1 next year and they lose many games so we get a juicy draft pick.

Do you value a player that runs the team instead of the coaches and management? Is that a good way to run an organization? Rodgers was a head case. Good riddance.

"Rodgers was a special player"

Yes, he was - and I will look forward to celebrating his Packers and NFL HOF enshrinements.

Regarding aging players getting shipped out or moved on - that's the nature of the business.

I think that I must be one of the only idealogues who thinks that in a Salary Cap environment that the QB salaries are both sickening, and worse, detrimental to a team.

They know when their exorbitant salaries are forcing other players to be cut and otherwise good teams to be disbanded (to keep under the cap), yet they say nothing.

Sadly, it was just time for him to go - it sucks, but "some people, you just can't teach - so we get what we had here"....... "I don't like it any more than you do".

Nick I agree with most of what you written.

2021 DRG lost is on him, if for no other reason but for burry ST with Punter in the end zone (when punt was blocked and finished with TD for 9ers), and for missing not only Lazard totally free in the middle of the field, but 15 yards deeper ESB alone as ghost 10 yards from the 9ers end zone.

Blaming D that they were not able to stop 9ers after numerous 3 and outs is additional idiocracy. D was playing on SB level. That is all what we need to know. To stop complaining that he never had good D and he was carrying Packers on his back.

I understand that he become idol for many Packers fan, but be honest with the facts. He had good enough D in 2014 (4 INT + 1 TO on ST deep into the Seahawks red zone in the first half and 1 INT in the second half). He was able to throw 1 TD and 1 INT and to allow team to score 5 FG. That was D with Julian Peppers. Remember?

IMHO, if AR's ego is so fragile he got so upset over the team drafting Love, then he is not who I would want leading my team. If I was GB management, as soon as he had his hissy fit on draft day, I would have been making calls that he was available for a trade.

It seems that the FO ignored the maxim "Money Can't Buy Happiness."

"The WR rooms are probably a wash though who do the Jets have after Wilson?"

Lazard and Cobb.

People arguing about reload or rebuild. I say it's both. Reloading the talent and rebuilding MLF's O. What matters is what they put on the field and we have no idea what that will be.

You nailed it G! The only thing I wish him is good health, and sub 500 season! I appreciate everything he did in a packers uniform, but with the chance of a great draft pick hinging on his new teams performance, how can a "PACKERS FAN" be rooting for the jets to go to the superbowl...?

Sometimes ruminating is a good thing! For instance, last night the NFL Network aired the rebroadcast of the NYG-vikings 2022 play off game, where Kark, on 4th and 8, with the vikings down by 7, throws a 3 yard pass to their TE, Hockenson, who proceeds to get tackled, 5 yards short of the line to gain. The vikings turned the ball over, on downs, and the NYGs ran out the clock for the play off win. A thing of beauty! That is the kind of rumination I like!

So the Packers for you is about ascribing hate, futility, failure and firings.

All righty then, Mrs. Lincoln...but how was the play?

Exactly why leaning into Lafleur's offense would have been a good thing for Rodgers. But he had to do it his way.

Steve, I’ve read this a couple times today. The more I read it, the more I like it.

I’m confident our OL will be strong. Our DL? I think it’s going to be very, very good. Even with some young rookies added in for 2023. They are NFL size/strength players with high production and techniques already on their resumes.

Trenches are key.

Handsback - yes I remember that comment! I concur that Rodgers is the best passer I have ever seen also. And he has has transformed the QB position forever like Johnny Unitas once did back in the late 50s and early 60s.

It may be a long time before we see another player like Aaron Rodgers. I've been fortunate to watch him play over the last 15 seasons and I'm grateful for it, the good and the bad. Thanks, Since '61

Cookie! Thanks, Since '61

You use bad grammar; now go sit in the corner and join me with a dunce hat on.

If he hits Lazard over the middle, it may have been a td. He might still be running lol.

I wonder how Saleh will handle a 3rd and 2 hero ball incomplete down the sideline.

Saleh was a DC prior to being named Jets HC. He's a defensive guy which is why he brought in Hackett. I think he will let Hackett and Rodgers handle the offense while he remains more focused on the defensive side and the STs.

In any case I agree that he won't deall with any Bs from any player. But with Hackett as a buffer he can let Hackett deal with Rodgers. Thanks, Since '61

The Saleh / Rodgers relationship will be great theatre. Saleh is no fool, he knows the Jets won’t go anywhere without Rodgers. The fine line between kissing his ass and making him toe the line will be interesting. I think the Packers showed the Jets lots of things not to do. Saleh obviously has a stronger personality than MLF , but will Rodgers respond to that?

Classic. Well said.

Two seasons to go before that happens. Thanks, Since '61

The press has made Gutey's job cushy.
Will see the "REAL STORY" when the losing starts.

I actually hope he has nice success through the first half of the season. One point nobody has brought up, but If AR is absolute garbage and has only one or two wins in the first half of the season, would the Jets bench him to protect that 1st round pick?

The AR/Jets honeymoon will come a dead stop, after AR's self-serving "hero ball" crap that falls on it's face. He ignored MLF play calls, so Hackett is no match. Problem is, the " coastal elite sports writers & media, that Large market stuff won't tolerate his shit. That, is NOT fly over, hew haw country. Can't wait for the "show" to begin
Only question is how soon?

My dislike of 12 in recent years had gotten to the point it diminished my enjoyment of GB football.
Fresh start. Exciting potential with a ton of young players.
Let’s go!

Definitely excited about seeing a young and hungry group grow together. Agree completely with Since '61, after the SF playoff loss, I was convinced change was needed. There were too many instances last year where Rodgers seemed determined to prove to everyone his way was the only way. Instead of simply playing team ball, he wanted to make sure everyone know he was the smartest guy in the stadium. He just looked disinterested.

Rooting for the Jets to stay in the race enough to get 66% out of Rodgers, then implode on the way to a top ten pick.

I'm less charitable (or is it "more realisitic") than Al is when it comes to "Phone Gate." I think ARod said he DID see all of the missed call messages, but he purposely didn't pick up or return the calls because they weren't via Facetime.

So in other words, it seems clear that ARod simply decided he wasn't going to play for GB anymore, and he forced his way out of town. He just wants to spin it as if he were the victim.

I've even seen some New York / east coast / national media people who agree that it's a pathetic excuse. Quite a few of them, actually.

Two thoughts on Rodgers, then hopefully we're done. First, I definitely wish him the best, and hold no hard feeling toward him whatsoever. Second, the Packers should have traded him to Denver for more draft picks and possibly a player or two, when he was coming off his second straight MVP season.

It should have happened last year. By that point, Rodgers, plus that roster and cap made no sense, as subsequently proved, but it’s done now and the cost of that hubris at least contained.

Since I’m not in the NY/NJ area, I don’t have to suffer the coverage, so it’s pretty easy to just feel relief that the inevitable happened and the damage is at least minimized. We can stop trying to hold back the passage of time and look to a roster that can now plausibly improve as Rodgers plays out his last year or two.

The Jets fans I know are conflicted. They really want to believe, but they saw what we were, they see the arrival of Lazard and Cobb and are desperately hoping that that’s mostly for off field companionship. If Rodgers does well, they won’t care: a year being a contender is something they do not remember and cherish the imagined experience. If the offense is poor, slow, ineffectual, they all agree it’s not going to be ugly, that just won’t cover it. At the moment they are just enjoying the hope and blotting out doubt.

It’s interesting that I have not spoken to any fan of a divisional team that is happy to see Rodgers gone. They no longer see him as they used to. They seem to have liked the idea of his final years here, the cap famine. When your rivals aren’t cock-a-hoop at a star player who has tormented them departing, it speaks volumes. In their mind the dance has already over in all but name and the longer we pretended otherwise, the better.

Here’s to the future, though it may not all be pretty, it will be interesting, and yes, it was coming very soon anyway.

What is refreshing is knowing (hopefully) the Rodgers soap opera is being cancelled from the airwaves in Packerland while the reruns play in the NY media market.

I look forward to reports about the men who will be wearing the Green and Gold this season...starting with the Anti-Rodgers, Jordan Love.

He doesn't seem arrogant, self entitled, nor emotionally immature. The young man has already been through lots of trials and challenges, including the loss of his mentor Dad when he was 12...and then Rodgers drama that brought undeserved ire upon him. He remained above the fray and publicly ignored it all...but it must have been difficult for him.

The respect from his teammates seems earned, not just lip service. How he has approached his job with hard work, quietly, behind the scenes is also refreshing.

Character is who you are when no one is watching. I am very much looking forward to Jordan Love's career in Green Bay. It is easy for me to pull for the young man.

More about Jordan, please!

My theory of Aaron Rodgers is that he is a sad person who is restlessly and even desperately trying to find meaning and happiness and fulfillment in all of the wrong places.
As far as football, it seems his commitment to the hard work involved in the craft of quarterback has indeed waned over the years.
He became less and less interested and involved in the difficult details of football even as he became more and more arrogant and domineering in pushing his preferences upon the team -- which inevitably led to headaches and heartbreaks for the Packers, and us as fans.
This unruly combination of ennui and egotism made Rodgers the fault line around which the Packers cracked and crumbled under the pressure of the biggest moments in the biggest games.
***
The idiocy of it all was that both the front office and Rodgers doubled down on the dysfunction with a monstrous contract before last season.
It seems almost a miracle that the Packers were able to extricate themselves from this messy tangle, and even salvage some return for trading Rodgers.
As a result of this amazing turnaround, it seems a fresh breeze is blowing through Green Bay -- based on what I've been reading here at CHTV. Fans seem reinvigorated, not dwelling on the past but eager for the future.
Whereas Rodgers appeared to stifle all discussion and suffocate all dissent with his decrees (e.g., what games he wouldn't play in, or would play in, with what the head coach wanted seemingly irrelevant), now the general manager can generally manage, the coaches can coach, and the players can relax and be themselves.
No more: How will Rodgers react?
As a fan of more than half a century, there is a new bounce to my step, a new lilt to my words, in rooting on the Packers,
***
Everything is a risk, including the status quo.
Whatever happens with the Packers over the next few seasons (and I was a devoted fan during the futility and frustration of the 1970s and 1980s), I'd much rather take my chances with integrity and enthusiasm than with manipulation and malaise.
Fortunately, after all of the melodrama, there is a ton of young talent infusing the Packers with a renewed vitality, as well as some key veterans to help with savvy guidance.
***
As for Rodgers, I've been a huge fan of his over the years, and genuinely wish him all the best on and off the field.
Perhaps like a hallucinogenic drug, his early days of happy hullabaloo with the Jets may be acting as stimulant to the numbness of his inner self -- but eventually the heightened effect wears off, and there is disillusionment.
I pray Rodgers finds something substantial to sustain him during the ordinariness of life.
It's a universal challenge of humankind. May God help us all to fight the good fight in our days on this earth, including the slow days.

This year reminds me of my sophomore year in HS. We only had 4 Seniors, two Juniors, and the rest of us were Sophomores...

We lost 14 Seniors to graduation. Seven starters on each side of the ball. We won the Conference '77 - went 4 - 5 in '78, and then our Junior and Senior years we dominated the conference winning it both years. Experience is a thing. Hoping we can go 8 - 9 or
9 - 8 this year but want to see our young team grow and dominate in '24 & '25.

I don't really care what the Jets do, as long as AR8 plays 65% of the snaps. They can implode for all I care, or they can go to the AFCCG and watch AR8 throw it to Wilson in double coverage while Mecole Hardman is wide open, I don't care. I do not want to see AR8 get hurt, even a little bit. I don't want there to be any excuses. Hackett and AR8 will either enjoy a Kum ba yah type moment or not.

My biggest hope is Richie B becomes defacto HC while MaLF reworks his offense and Joe Barry finds a copy of "Defense for Dummies" somewhere and has someone who can read it to him.

Aaron Rodgers had a passer rating of 91.1, tied for 17th with Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson. Average. His adjusted yards/attempt was 5.95, 20th in the league. His 12 interceptions...only six guys threw more.

I think that Love has an excellent chance to have a better season in 2023 than Rodgers did in 2022.
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Since I got a couple of downvotes for that (without any explanation, of course), I thought I'd try to paint a clearer picture.

By ESPN QBR ranking, Rodgers was 27th. By the more traditional passer rating, he was 15th. Not one QB with a lower passer rating had a winning record. By won/loss record, only Russell Wilson and Justin Fields lost more games. But by attempts, he was #10. By completion %, he was 20th. He was 13th in TD percentage, and 17th in interception percentage. His adjusted Net Yards/ Attempt is 20th. 27 QBs had more rushing yards, and Love is a good bet to have more than the 94 Rodgers gained rushing.

There was a lot of noise and pain and confusion when our season ended. But I think that if any group of sane, sober, people sat down and looked at that they'd realize they had to improve at QB if they wanted to compete in 2023. The Packer Brass knows that they can't win the division with the kind of performances on offense we had against Minnesota in the opener and both times against Detroit.

We're not replacing a 4 time MVP HOFer. We're replacing the guy who didn't have a very good season. In fact,he had the worst season he ever had. And I'd be willing to bet a 12 pack of Pabst that Love is going to have a better season than Rodgers did last year.