New Info Is Out on How the Packers Ruined the Aaron Rodgers Era

The Green Bay Packers have long been hailed as the class of the NFC North. From 2009 to 2016, they made the playoffs every year, won multiple division titles, played in three NFC championships and won a Super Bowl. On the surface that sounds like a great accomplishment, right? Except when a team has arguably the greatest quarterback of all time in Aaron Rodgers in his prime during that stretch? It feels like an underachievement. Think about the quarterbacks who are tagged as the greatest ever. All of them share something in common: multiple rings. Tom Brady has five. Joe Montana has four. Peyton Manning has two. John Elway has two. Johnny Unitas has three. Even someone like Brett Favre whom Rodgers is always compared to at least got to another Super Bowl. Now the Packers superstar is staring down the reality of age. He turns 35-years old on December 2nd and has endured his fair share of injuries the past few years. There's no telling how much longer his body will be able to hold out. It's why there is a genuine panic over the Packers' window closing. How in the world did it get to this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quFNklwqGMY

Green Bay Packers unchecked power in front office led to wasting Rodgers

According to Kalyn Kahler of the MMQB, it started with former GM Ted Thompson. Much of the Packers' early success during his reign was thanks to his excellent drafting. However, it soon became clear that his philosophies came with a danger. He wanted to build just through the draft. Free agency? Trades? They were like kryptonite to him. Something to be avoided. That meant if the team suddenly stopped drafting well, it would be a big problem.

"Some in the organization felt the reduced talent on the roster put a strain on the coaching staff. And many in the front office were frustrated as well. Sources familiar with the inner workings of the organization said that lower level personnel employees explored trades and initiated conversations with other teams, around three or four times each year, but they could never get far without the ability to counteroffer, which would require Thompson’s cooperation and approval. Scouts on the pro side were often frustrated because they felt like their hard work went to waste. They would spend weeks putting together reports on all the available free agents, and Thompson would rarely sign any. At various points during Thompson’s tenure, the Packers had chances to land Randy Moss, Marshawn Lynch (a collegiate teammate of Rodgers’s) and Tony Gonzalez, but did not move on any of them. (A team spokesperson declined an interview request for Thompson.)"

Things played out exactly as feared.

From 2005 to 2009, Thompson selected nine players who would eventually go on to make at least one Pro Bowl including Rodgers. However, from 2010 to his final year in 2017? He only managed to get eight, and two of those players (Casey Heyward and Micah Hyde) didn't make it until after leaving the team as free agents. Only one player remains from the 2015 class, and he's on IR. Only Davante Adams remains from the 2014 class after the team traded Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Missing on almost two entire draft classes is a big explanation for why this team is 4-6-1 this year and on the cusp of blowing up their coaching staff to start over. It may yet be possible to get things turned around before it's too late, but recovering from these sorts of down periods is never easy. Even when a team has somebody like Rodgers. Could Green Bay actually get just two Lombardi trophies out of two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history? It's starting to look that way.