Pros and Cons of Aaron Rodgers returning to Green Bay Packers

Pro: The Green Bay Packers still get to own the Chicago Bears

No one has dominated the hated Chicago Bears in this rivalry more than Aaron Rodgers. Not Brett Favre with his 22-10 record against the Bears. Not Vince Lombardi with his 13-5 record against Chicago.

Rodgers is 22-5 against the Chicago Bears and famously claimed unofficial ownership of the Bears.

Con: Have to deal with that annoying crowing by Bears, Vikings, and Lions fans after playoff losses

These division rivals have struggled to beat Rodgers during the season. Rodgers is 16-10-1 against the Vikings. He is 18-6 against the Lions.

The moment the Green Bay Packers playoff heartbreak comes in the playoffs, the rival fanbase loves to take to Twitter to express their schadenfreude.

It is an unnecessary salt in the wound. Remember, with the lack of playoff success for these three franchises, watching Green Bay fail in the playoffs is all they have.

Pro: The Green Bay Packers keep the Favre/Rodgers era going for at least another season

It is hard to find a team with a stretch of greatness at quarterback like the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre became the starter in 1992 and went onto a Hall of Fame career. Rodgers took over and the Packers have stayed out of quarterback heck for what will be 30 years and counting.

Teams like the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Chicago Bears have started well more than 30 quarterbacks combined during that span.

The Green Bay Packers have never been in a situation where they had to convince themselves if trading two first-round draft picks for Jay Cutler would be worth it.

Quarterback heck is awful and a generation gets to enjoy staying out of it for at least one more season and possibly more.

Con: Drafting Jordan Love looks even worse

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst infamously traded up in the 2020 draft to select Jordan Love in the first round. It was a stunning pick considering Aaron Rodgers’ play did slip a bit but still not enough to warrant thinking about his replacement.

Now, this looks like one of the worst picks in franchise history since drafting punter B.J. Sander.

Plus, the 2020 draft was deep at wide receiver and the Packers missed out on taking one. It actually probably would have made more sense to trade back–especially since Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. went early in the second round.

Imagine having Higgins playing in the 2020 NFC Championship game against Tampa Bay. Instead, the Packers had Jordan Love not play at all.

His start last season against the Kansas City Chiefs and extended playing time against the Lions did nothing to show he can take over for Rodgers and continue the string of great quarterback play.

If Rodgers has signed a four-year deal, that takes up the entire Jordan Love rookie contract timeline. Plus, Love being selected in round one was not like when Rodgers was taken in 2005. Rodgers was considered for the first pick overall and Favre was in the middle of his second retirement watch.

Rodgers gave no indication he was finished with the game and Love was considered more of a second-round pick talent.

Now, the Green Bay Packers will have a first-round pick that will not be used. The decision to draft Love will be the greatest what-if since the Packers went with another player in that draft since 1989 when the Packers took Tony Mandarich over Barry Sanders and Deon Sanders.