The Green Bay Packers had back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks running their offense with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Favre already has a bust in Canton; Rodgers will get one five years after he finally retires.
While the Packers had those two great signal callers, they did not end their relationships well. They were like a seventh grader breaking up when they came to the final days with both Favre and Rodgers. The jagged edge at the conclusion of the Favre years was based on Brett retiring and unretiring while leaving the team management in limbo. He finally got out while moving on to the New York Jets and later played for one of the Packers division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.
The Rodgers break-up was even more contentious.
Behind both Favre and Rodgers, the Packers were consistent playoff participants, but both those great quarterbacks only led Green Bay to one Super Bowl victory each. Favre got the Packers the Vince Lombardi Trophy to complete the 1996 season, Rodgers in 2010.
Why didn’t the Packers win more Super Bowls in the 20 plus years Favre and Rodgers were running their offense? If you ask Rodgers, he will tell you it was because they messed up their draft in 2020. The Packers were in the NFC Championship Game in both 2019 and 2020 but fell short in losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So close, no brass ring.
Rodgers figured the team was just one impact player away from leapfrogging the rest of the competition … and that is why he was so angry in 2020 when the team spent their first draft choice on the only position that couldn’t help their cause with Rodgers at quarterback. With their first pick in the 2020 NFL draft the Packers chose quarterback Jordan Love. The next two players taken in that draft were future all-pro linebackers, Jordyn Brooks and Patrick Queen. There were also a pair of future offensive stars available when the Packers made their first-round choice of Love that could have helped Rodgers win another Super Bowl, wide receiver Tee Higgins and runningback Jonathan Taylor.
Not giving Rodgers anything new to help his cause was a severe blow to the relationship between quarterback and organization. As the following seasons ticked off, and the Packers continued to be a brick short of winning it all, Rodgers always blamed that missed opportunity in 2020 as a primary reason for failure.
A few years ago, the strained relationship with Rodgers and the Packers ended when Green Bay traded him to the New York Jets. In return, the Packers got three draft picks and a conditional selection. The Packers got a first, second and sixth round draft choice in 2023 and never cashed the conditional pick because Rodgers didn’t play enough games for the Jets to qualify. In fact, Rodgers was injured in his first series of downs for the Jets and missed the 2023 season.
As for the picks the Packers collected, none hit the jackpot. Their first-round pick was Lukas Van Ness, a defensive end who played sparingly for two seasons before being out of the game. Their third-round pick acquired in the trade was used to select Luke Musgrave, a tight end out of Oregon State who has been little more than a backup in his three professional seasons. With the sixth-round choice that got in the trade the Packers took kicker Anders Carlson, who recorded the most missed kicks in the league during his rookie season, 13. He spent time with the 49ers and Jets before currently playing in the United States Football League for the Birmingham Stallions.
Given the Packers were close to winning it all and their veteran quarterback got bent out of shape because they spent their first pick in the draft on a quarterback, how is Matthew Stafford taking the Los Angeles Rams decision to trade up and grab a quarterback with their first pick in last week’s draft?
With a selection acquired from the Atlanta Falcons, the Rams used the 13th pick in the 2026 draft to bring Alabama Quarterback Ty Simpson to Southern California. Many in the league thought that was a little early to choose Simpson, but the Rams obviously got in position to take the man they wanted.
Just like Rodgers complained about the Packers taking a quarterback in the first round when they were so close to winning it all, isn’t Stafford in exactly the same position? Many thought the Rams had the best team in football last season and just missed in the NFC Championship Game against the soon-to-be Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks.
The only difference is Stafford didn’t complain to his employer, instead remained focused on what is ahead and another run at his second Super Bowl title in Los Angeles. It is also true that the Rams handled the situation better than the Packers did three years ago. They informed Stafford of their intention to draft Simpson with their first pick and Stafford gave the organization his full support.
Sean McVay, the Rams Head Coach, put it this way, “Stafford was great, simply first class.”
It is true that someday both Rodgers and Stafford will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but one of the men is headed to Canton with less baggage.