How do we get Aaron Rodgers in Denver?
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The hiring of Nathaniel Hackett opened the doors for a ton of speculation about Aaron Rodgers, Devante Adams, and possibly even David Bakhtiari coming to Denver to unite and make a Super Bowl push in the twilight of their careers. This model has been super successful for quarterbacks like Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, Peyton Manning in Denver, Matthew Stafford in Los Angles. These scenarios crop up when a player is either unhappy in their current structure, contract disputes, injury concerns, or the timeline for the player no longer matches the timeline of the organization. Aaron Rodgers was unhappy with the Packers last offseason and was heavily speculated that he could become a member of the Denver Broncos before the start of the 2021 season.
This of course would not come true, but even Vegas betting odds had the league MVP, Super Bowl champion, quarterback, Aaron Rodgers landing in Denver as the surest bet for a period of time. Well, now the Broncos hired his good friend and the offensive coordinator that Aaron Rodgers backed in the media, giving his praise and support too, as their head coach. The rumor mills are bound to start whipping up and generating buzz and pressure on the Packers organization.
Potential Trade Package
The Denver Broncos are in a fantastic position to make an legitimate offer to the Packers to secure the biggest acquisition the organization has had since Peyton Manning in 2012. The Broncos have a ton of salary cap to sign Rodgers and his friends who most likely will also leave the Packers organization. They have the coach Rodgers wants to play for. And as far as the Packers are concerned, we have assets that could be too good to say no to, especially if the options are trade Rodgers for assets or he retires…
Broncos possible assets:
- #9 overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft in April
- Two second round selections in the 2022 NFL draft
- Two third round selections in the 2022 NFL draft
- Future first, second and third round selections
- Jerry Jeudy the 2020 15th overall selection, if the team is securing Devante Adams, JJ is tradeable
- Noah Fant, the 2019 20th overall selection, Rodgers has never been a huge TE QB, and we still have Albert O.
- Drew Lock, Dalton Risner the Broncos 2019 second round selections
- Bradley Chubb (highly doubt he’s traded but the asset is available)
Now personally, I think that the Packers choosing to not trade him after last season and the devastating way the 2021 season ended with two special teams blunders leading to the loss in the playoffs, not sure how much leverage the Packers will have. That being said, there are about 10 other teams that could likely put together trade packages for the Packers to select from so the offer has to be competitive but not too heavy.
That being said, I think a trade package of #9 overall, one of our second round picks this draft, one of next seasons second round picks, Jerry Jeudy and Drew Lock would be enough for the Packers to look at and say, we are getting three selections in the next two drafts, a first round talent WR, and a potentially groomed, 25-year old Drew Lock to battle with Jordan Love for the starting quarterback position next season. I would really hate losing more 1st round picks, but if that 2nd next season needed to be elevated to a 1st, I could get behind it.
Rodgers in Blue and Orange
Aaron Rodgers has three MVPs under his belt and potentially another this season after throwing for 37 touchdowns and only four interceptions and leading the Packers the the NFCs #1 overall seed. He’s won a Super Bowl in 2010, and took home the Super Bowl MVP for that game. He has only two double digit interception seasons in his entire career, one was his first season taking over as the starting QB for Brett Favre and the other was in 2010 when he won a Super Bowl. In the playoffs he has a 45:12 touchdown to interception ratio and can simply do things that other qbs cannot.
There is zero doubt that he is a player that elevates this team to contender status, but for how long is the question. He just turned 38 in December 2021, for reference he is two years older than Peyton Manning was when he joined the Denver Broncos. How much of a trade package is worth the potential short term impact Rodgers would have on the franchise? If we take what Peyton did in four seasons in Denver, two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl win, one of the best offenses the NFL had ever seen in 2013, contender status every year for four seasons, is that the gold standard for the expectation for bringing Rodgers in?
Risks
What if we get two seasons out of Rodgers, as he is a 2024 Unrestricted Free Agent? What if he plays two years, his contract is up and he chooses to go to another franchise or retire? It is important to understand the potential sunk cost risk, potentially only getting two seasons out of him. He did spend his first four years in the league as a backup to Favre, does that mean he’s likely to play longer as he wasn’t abused for the first three seasons of his career?
What if Tom Brady has set the bar so high that all Hall of Fame quarterbacks are trying to chase his ghost, and we get Aaron Rodgers until he’s 44 and go on to win multiple Super Bowls? All of this is worth considering especially when you mortgage the future by trading high draft picks and blue-chip players for a 38-year old quarterback coming off an MVP caliber season.
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