Drj820 wrote: ↑11 Jun 2021 08:01
YoHoChecko wrote: ↑11 Jun 2021 06:02
In 2018 the GM was replaced, Aaron Rodgers was signed to a six year deal that at the time set the NFL record for new money per new year ($34M x 4 years), and the head coach was fired.
Yet some want us to believe that the organization blamed Rodgers for the poor play in 2017 and 2018, rather than the coach and GM who got fired.
Think about how absurd that is.
The organization chose and prioritized Rodgers. They set about assembling a better team around him and extending a championship window over the course of his new contract that THEY signed him to. And the changes are clearly working.
my conspiracy theory of choice is that they saw we went 13-3 with what appeared to be statistically average QB play and determined that the Lafleur system was so easy on any QB who would actually obey him that almost anyone could do it. So they went QB with a plan to train the new QB overtime in a way that would be pleasing to Lafleur and sooner rather than later they would have a cheap qb midway through his rookie deal. They wouldnt have to debate with Rodgers on what should be kept or tossed from the old regime, and wouldnt have to be on pins and needles every draft night and deal with Rodgers drama.
I think things changed once they saw they hit a home run with Lafleur. I do think they vastly underestimated what Rodgers did contribute to the 13-3 season. Lots of the stuff could never be measured by looking at stats such as completion percentage or touchdown passes. They got used to Godgers, once 12 wasnt always Godgers year one of a brand new system, they forgot who he was and said "If we dont have Godgers, why are we dealing with this prickly guy, why are we paying so much when the new God in town Lafleur can train anyone to be QB". They got cocky.
My conspiracy theory: All the other teams colluded to mess up the Packers' QB situation.
It's no secret other teams are jealous of the Packers' luck with QBs. They got tired, had a meeting in the evil lair or Bill Belichick and formed a plan: Let's bait Gutey into picking one in 1st round and thus throw the franchise into chaos (collective "muahhahhaaa!").
They knew Gutey had high marks on Love, but also that the Packers wouldn't go all-in to pick him. The Packers had needs at WR, CB and OT. Thus they conspired to pick 6 WRs, 5 OTs and 4 CBs before the 26th pick. Watching those players go Gutey tried to trade up, but to no avail, since refusing his trades until the time was ripe was part of the plan. When Aiyuk was gone, the conspirators knew the Packers 1st round graded need position players were gone, and Miami gallantly offered a nice trade up for the low, low price of just a 4th rounder. Gutey fell for it.
Far fetched?
No more than saying picking Love was any sort of a plan.
You do not, you can not, make a plan to wait until the 26th pick to move up for QB you target. When you really target a QB, you trade a boatload to move up so high there's no risk of missing out on him.
Yes, Love is a 1ST ROUND QB, as the media enjoys shouting. He IS a
potential successor to AR. But when is comes to a succession PLAN, there's a bit of a difference between a top 10 pick and a 26th pick. IF there had been a pre-draft plan to replace AR, we would've noticed due to the massive deal we would've had to do to trade up to the top 10. THAT would've been a message to AR that we're planning to move on shortly.
Picking Love wasn't planned. Neither was he picked to replace AR ASAP. It was an opportunity pick. A BPA pick. An insurance against AR injury or decline -pick. Not a masterplan to replace AR -pick.
As long as AR plays on a super high level he won't be replaced. And if he doesn't, if he hits the wall or gets into an injury spiral, would you like to have him on a fully guaranteed deal and to have no options?