Green Bay Packers: Is it Time to Draft Aaron Rodgers’ Successor?

After another average season from Aaron Rodgers, is it time for the Green Bay Packers to draft his eventual successor in 2020?

Before we dive into this topic, I’m going to begin by saying that Aaron Rodgers isn’t going anywhere in 2020. In fact, you can plan on him being with the Green Bay Packers for at least the next three seasons. Moving on from him prior to that just makes no financial sense.

With the way Rodgers contract is structured, if the Packers were to move on from him this offseason they would suffer a dead cap hit of $39.7 million. In 2021, that number is $31.6 million, and while there is a potential out in 2022, a dead cap hit of $17.4 million would still occur.

However, while the Packers won’t be looking for Rodgers’ replacement this year, is this the time for them to draft his eventual successor as they did with Brett Favre?

An average Aaron Rodgers

This past season was a very average one for Rodgers. He finished the year completing 62 percent of his passes for 4,002 yards with 26 touchdowns to just four interceptions, and 7.0 yards per attempt. Not to mention that his quarterback passer rating of 95.4 ranked 14th.

Now of course, it takes some time before a new offense is fully functional but it’s also worth pointing out that Rodgers’ numbers from 2019 were eerily similar to what they were in 2018 under Mike McCarthy.

At that time, his completion percentage was slightly higher at 62.3 percent, he threw for 4,442 yards with 25 touchdowns to two interceptions with 7.4 yards per attempts. And his passer rating of 97.6 ranked 15th.

Yes, there was a bigger discrepancy in yards, but he also wasn’t asked to throw as often under Matt LaFleur. However, by and large he was much of the same quarterback. He still made some spectacular throws, but he made a number of head-scratching ones as well.

So I’ve said that to say this, Rodgers is still one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league and he can absolutely lead this Green Bay Packers team to a Super Bowl. However, he’s much closer to the end of his career than the beginning and planning for life without Rodgers is a conversation that needs to be had.

Should Green Bay enter the draft looking for a QB?

Much like when Green Bay drafted Rodgers, the Favre led team had Super Bowl aspirations like this 2020 Packers team does. So I could see a very similar approach being taken. I don’t necessarily believe that Green Bay is going into the draft dead set on drafting a quarterback, especially with the 30th overall selection.

But if there is someone who they love – much like they did with Rodgers – and he is available, it could be quite difficult to pass up that opportunity even though there are other positional needs that could help them more in the present.

On the other hand, a potential issue that Green Bay could run into is with the rookie contract. Currently rookies have four-year deals with a team option for a fifth. Well, Rodgers will likely be around for three of those years at a minimum and he still has four total years left on his deal.

Meaning, the rookie could have just one year to prove himself before the team has to make a decision about the 5th year option. Or if Rodgers is still playing at a high-level to the end of his contract, the Packers will have to take the option without having really seen their draft pick play for an extended period of time – barring an injury to Rodgers that is. Otherwise, they could always choose to move on and have wasted this high draft pick.

Personally, given how the remainder of Rodgers’ contract is structured along with current rookie deals, I think waiting until the 2021 draft to address the quarterback position in the first or second round makes the most sense. And that way this season they can address those other positional needs.

To me that route seems the most logical, yet with that said, if the Packers love a quarterback prospect and he becomes available, it won’t be easy for Brian Gutekunst to pass him up. And if that’s the case, then Green Bay will just have figure out the rest later. I mean, we’ve seen them do it before.