Detroit Lions: Packers first round pick signals the end of an era

By Bob Heyrman | May 2, 2020

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

The Green Bay Packers decided to send a firm message to their franchise quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft by using the selection on his successor rather than a much-needed playmaker. What does this mean for the Detroit Lions?

It’s coming soon and I’m so ready for it; the Detroit Lions not having their heart ripped out by terrible officiating that blatantly favors Aaron Rodgers or for the love of anything holy a ‘Hail Mary’ heave to the endzone that I’ll never remove from my memory.

The Green Bay Packers traded up in the second half of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to select the product of Utah State, quarterback Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick. It will go down as the biggest surprise in the first round; Love didn’t ‘fall’ to Green Bay, they traded up to acquire him. Don’t mix words here; there is a big difference between the two. It’s excellent news for the Detroit Lions, though; the end of an era is near for Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay.

It won’t be this season or next, but the end is near for Rodgers. He may choose to play elsewhere, but the Packers are clearly planning to move on with life after Rodgers by taking Jordan Love late in the first round.

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Many point to the Green Bay Packers selecting Aaron Rodgers with the great Brett Favre already in place, and there is a considerable difference between these two circumstances. Favre had already been contemplating retirement, Rodgers has yet to indicate he’s close to hanging up the cleats. When the Packers chose Rodgers with the 24th pick in the 2005 NFL draft, he’d been a candidate to be selected with the first overall pick.

The San Fransisco 49ers elected to pick Alex Smith instead, and the Rodgers’ free fall started and continued until the Packers ended it with that pick in the mid-20s. In this case, the Packers moved up to assure themselves, Love.

Picking Rodgers never sat well with the greatest Packers quarterback in franchise history to date, and it appears history is about to repeat itself shortly for the Detroit Lions division rivaled Packers.

Rodgers is coming off of a mediocre season to his standards, yet Green Bay somehow still found a way to win 13 football games. Under head coach Matt LaFleur it’s evident the Packers want to use more of a run-first style of an offense similar to what the 49ers are doing under Kyle Shanahan. The two head coaches are friends and former colleagues, so a similar style of play should come as no surprise.

Will the conservative style of play fit Rodgers, though? Aaron has a gigantic ego; I can’t imagine his reaction if he were reading similar comparisons of himself to Jimmy Garoppalo’s style of play. He’d be livid. He wants to be in the same conversation as Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning.

Rodgers tossed for 4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just four interceptions last season.

Don’t expect Rodgers to be a great mentor for Love, as Favre wasn’t very helpful to a young Rodgers.

When Aaron leaves Green Bay, and it’s coming, that will leave Matthew Stafford atop the division as the best quarterback, and at 34-years old (in two years), he’ll need to finally guide the Detroit Lions to some success before another young quarterback emerges within the NFC North.

An aging Rodgers is now 36 years old and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer; the Packers elected to start their rebuild rather than go all-in surrounding Aaron with weapons that won’t sit well with Rodgers.

The 2020 draft was littered with receiver talent, yet the Packers still elected to roll with a quarterback. I’m sure Rodgers hoped for a top target to play opposite Davante Adams. Why didn’t LeFleur pick Tee Higgins or Michael Pittman Jr, or Chase Claypool or Denzel Mims? Instead, the Packers decided to go quarterback/running back. Aaron Jones is one of the better backs in football, yet the Packers forgo the receiver spot and take A.J. Dillon from Boston College. Odd.

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The Detroit Lions will have a window of opportunity with Stafford in his mid-30s to take over the NFC North, the rebuild in Detroit needs to be finished with, and the roster needs to be peaking in two years after Rodgers skips town. I’m a Stafford ‘guy,’ but the only thing that he’s better than Rodgers at is chugging beers, so at least we have that, right?

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