The Green Bay Packers had a relatively quiet offseason, all things considered. They didn’t make too many moves, opting for a bit of a youth movement on the roster. In 2023, they will be relying on a lot of inexperienced players to fill important positions on both sides of the ball.
The one position that people will be keeping the closest eye on is quarterback, where Jordan Love is taking over for the legendary Aaron Rodgers. That is the biggest change that the Packers made this offseason, trading Rodgers to the New York Jets, which will kick off the Love era.
It was arguably the biggest move made this offseason, as the quarterback market wasn’t nearly as busy this year as in the last few years. Without any other major moves being made, it should come as no surprise that trading Rodgers was named the Packers’ best move of the offseason by Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
“Outside of the biggest move of the NFL offseason, the Packers didn’t make any splashes. That’s why, in part, I’m choosing the Aaron Rodgers trade as their best move. Does it make the Packers better? No, at least not right away. But they had to do it given both where their relationship with Rodgers was and because of where Jordan Love is at in his career. This was a move made with the long-term success of the Packers in mind, and general manager Brian Gutekunst received a nice haul in return for a player who, in the end, everyone knew he was trading.”
Trading Rodgers has a massive impact on the franchise. Not only does it change their perception on the field, as many people have already written them off for the 2023 season. But, how the front office operates has changed as well.
The Packers have gotten back to their conservative ways when it comes to spending. The last few years were an outlier attempting to build a contender around Rodgers to make one last run at a Super Bowl. That was not the norm in Green Bay, who are notoriously near the bottom of the league in spending.
That is something they have quickly returned to, as the Packers have plummeted in how expensive the roster is for 2023. The offensive side of the ball is seeing that the most as their entire group of skill positions players, outside of running back Aaron Jones, are one rookie deals.
As Schneidman notes, trading Rodgers and going with a youth movement is in the best interest of the franchise long-term. There are a lot of high-upside youth that will now have a chance to develop and grow together for years to come. While the losses may pile up this season, it could lead to plenty of winning down the road.