The Green Bay Packers Could Wind Up In The Bryce Young/C.J. Stroud Sweepstakes

With the third pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select quarterback …

As wild as that sentence sounds, don’t be shocked to hear those words from commissioner Roger Goodell on April 27, 2023.

The Packers, mired in a five-game losing streak, are currently just 3-6 overall. Only five teams in the NFL have records worse than Green Bay, and with a daunting schedule looming, there’s a reasonable chance the Packers wind up selecting near the top of the NFL Draft.

If that happens, Green Bay will have a fascinating, potentially franchise-altering decision to make.

This will be a draft where quarterbacks fly off the board early.

Alabama’s Chase Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are the front-runners to be the top two picks in the draft, although much can change between now and April. Kentucky’s Will Levis is a potential top-5 pick, Stanford’s Tanner McKee is a projected first rounder, while others such as Florida’s Anthony Richardson, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker and Clemson’s DJ Uiagalelei are all intriguing physical prospects that could zoom up draft boards during the pre-draft process.

At first glance, the Packers — with future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers and 2020 first round pick Jordan Love on the roster — don’t seem like a team that needs a quarterback. But a deeper dive shows both Rodgers and Love could be gone sooner than later.

So if the Packers — who currently have just an 18% chance of reaching the playoffs — wind up near the top of the draft, this could be a golden opportunity to find their quarterback of tomorrow.

“I could see that,” one NFL executive told me Tuesday. “You wouldn’t think they’d go quarterback with Rodgers and Love, but either one of those guys could be gone next year. And they both could be gone after two more years.”

That’s for sure.

Rodgers signed a three-year, $150.8 million extension in March with $101.4 million fully guaranteed. Rodgers is due a fully guaranteed, $58.3 million option bonus in 2023 that makes up the majority of his $59.515 million in pay next season.

Rodgers, who turns 39 in three weeks, is having arguably the worst season of his career. Rodgers’ 89.0 passer rating is his poorest since he became the starter in 2008. He’s on pace to throw 13 interceptions, which would be his most since 2008. Rodgers ranks 27^th in the league in the QBR statistic developed by ESPN, and his average yards per completion (6.6) are his lowest since 2008.

Rodgers has hinted at retirement the last two years, but it’s hard to see him walking away from so much guaranteed future money. And even if Green Bay wanted to cut him, the salary cap ramifications would be crushing.

So the Packers will need to find out as soon as possible what they have in Love.

Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst traded up in the 2020 draft to select Love with the 26^th overall selection. At this point, though, the Packers have no idea whether Love is the answer when Rodgers is gone.

Love has thrown just 71 career passes and has a passer rating of 71.6. Most of Love’s work has come in two starts in 2021 — one against Kansas City when Rodgers contacted COVID, and a meaningless Week 18 game against Detroit after the Packers had already clinched the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

The Packers went 0-2 in those games.

Love looked better this offseason and during training camp than any point during his three seasons in Green Bay. But until the Packers see him for an extended period, they can’t be positive in what they have — or don’t have — with Love.

“Over the whole course of (training) camp, between last year, this spring to now, the steps are trending in the right directions,” Gutekunst said if Love in August. “Which is a nice thing to see.”

The Packers will need to see more, though, to make a decision on Love’s future.

Green Bay must decide this offseason whether to pick up Love’s fifth-year option for 2024, which would be worth almost $20 million fully guaranteed. So now — with the 2022 Packers going nowhere — would seem like the perfect time to play Love and find out if he’s the right man for the job in the post-Rodgers era.

Of course, that would mean benching Rodgers, which could create an entirely new set of problems. But Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur owe it to the organization to find out what they have in Love.

If Love shines, the Packers could pick up his fifth-year option this offseason, confident that their future quarterback is on the roster.

If Love struggles, Green Bay’s record is likely to plummet even more and its draft position will continue to improve. Then when the year end, the Packers could trade Love and begin their quest for their quarterback of tomorrow.

That’s where Young, Stroud, Levis and a host of others come in.

Two months ago, it seemed ludicrous to think the Packers could be in position to take one of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 draft. Today, it’s not far-fetched at all.

“You’ve got to have a quarterback,” the executive said. “Aaron won’t be there much longer, and they still don’t know what they’ve got with Love. So it’s probably time to find out.

“Then after a few starts, if you determine Love’s not your guy, you’re drafting near the top. So now you try it again with someone else. It’s pretty damn interesting.”

It sure is.

Which is why the final weeks of 2022 will be fascinating in Green Bay.