Packers in unfamiliar position of wondering if veterans still want to come

If Aaron Rodgers is to be believed—and we have to be careful with that one—veterans come to play with him. And in a way, they do. Over the last few years, Brian Gutekunst expertly added veterans to the roster in the spring and summer who believed they were joining a contending team. One of the reasons, maybe the only reason other than money, to pick Green Bay comes down to the ability to compete for a Super Bowl. Even if Rodgers returns, that doesn’t appear to be where the Packers are and Gutekunst lacks the resources he had in 2019 to overpay to make up the difference.

The ability to compete starts with Rodgers, whose falloff in productivity in 2022 drove much of the offensive shortcomings, though they did not complete the explanation. Even if he returns, can the Packers actually compete for a Super Bowl? They didn’t this past season and with a constricting cap around a roster that could already lose key pieces like Allen Lazard, Adrian Amos, and others, the front office has no clear path to add meaningful pieces in free agency even if clearing space isn’t as onerous as some have suggested.

Receivers will want to come if Rodgers is around. But what if it’s Jordan Love? Davante Adams wanted out in part because he had goals and aspirations and part of the shrapnel there has to hit Love with the implication being Love couldn’t be, or at least wasn’t as likely to be, the right guy to get him there. With Derek Carr benched and likely out in Las Vegas, the Packers have to hope he was wrong about that if they have any hopes of Love being a capable NFL starter.

What’s more, even with Rodgers, the buyout guys, the Whitney Mercilus-type players, and the Odell Beckhams, they were only ever coming to Green Bay with the idea of trying to win the Super Bowl.

Rodgers does still offer a better option for a player like DeAndre Hopkins or Brandin Cooks, each reportedly on the trade block this season, Cooks by his own public assertion. Receivers around the league, defenses around the league, respected Rodgers for past performances even as the analytics community suggested his play sagged from 2015-2019. And to be fair, I was one of those people who came around on the idea he was slowing down, that is, until he blew up the 2020 and ‘21 seasons with MVP performances.

They will still want to come and play alongside him after a down year.