The Packers didn’t want to risk losing the opportunity to draft their next potential franchise quarterback.
Thanks to a deal with the Miami Dolphins, Green Bay moved up from the 30th pick to the 26th in order to select Jordan Love. The Packers might not have been the only team willing to jump up the boards for Love, though, as Ian Rapoport after the pick revealed another club had considered making a play for the Utah State product.
“The Green Bay Packers climb up and take the potential successor to Aaron Rodgers,” Rapoport said on NFL Network “This was an interesting one, too, because the Colts also had some talks about potentially trading up as well. So what the Packers did, they made sure that it was them who traded up, not Indy. They get Aaron Rodgers’ successor. Now we will see if Rodgers grooms him or, you know, not.”
The Packers drafting Love unsurprisingly sent Twitter into a frenzy, with many drawing comparisons to when the franchise drafted Rodgers back in 2005 with the 24th overall pick. Longtime starter Brett Favre was 35 at the time and eventually handed over the reins to Rodgers in the 2008 campaign. Rodgers will turn 37 in early December.
Love was the fourth quarterback taken in Thursday night’s first round. Joe Burrow went first overall to the Cincinnati Bengals, Tua Tagovailoa was taken at No. 5 by the Miami Dolphins, and Justin Herbert landed with the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6.
