GREEN BAY, Wis. -- To be considered a success, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst must not only put together a roster that can win in the NFL week in and out but
also year in and year away. That's the standard for a GM. Matt LaFleur must earn
now. That's the standard for a head coach. Which brings us to the only topic
anyone who follows the Packers wants to talk about: The Jordan Love draft pick
and what it means to the franchise and to 36-year-old Aaron Rodgers. Fifteen
years ago, Rodgers found himself in Love's position when he was drafted in the
first round to a team Aaron
Rodgers with a Hall of Fame quarterback. A game away from the Super Bowl
last season and with Rodgers emphatic after the NFC title game loss to the San
Francisco 49ers that the Packers' championship window remained open, many pined
for a receiver. Rodgers, among others in the organization, was enamored with the
top of the receiver class (including LSU's Justin Jefferson, who went to the
Vikings at No. 22). As the 1st round unfolded on April 23, one of the pre-draft
scenarios that included Like was becoming more and more likely. And then
Gutekunst traded his fourth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins and moved up four
spots from his original first-round spot. At that point, a scenario that was
presented a day earlier by someone familiar with the Packers' plans -- that
there was a 50 percent chance Jordan Appreciate is a Packer -- began to look
like a reality. Based on interviews with multiple sources with knowledge of the
process and/or the individuals involved -- along with on-the-record comments
from Gutekunst and LaFleur before, during Brian
Gutekunst and after the draft -- we can begin to decipher why the Packers
picked (and the
Packers' plans traded up to No. 26 to do it) the quarterback of the future
and what this means for a group that went 13-3 last time of year under a
first-year mind coach.