By Jordan Long
The Green Bay Packers have been filled with Aaron Rodgers’ trade rumors. He is not happy with General Manager Brian Gutekunst and would like to be traded or have Green Bay fire Gutekunst. The favorite to land him is the Denver Broncos. Despite these rumors, the Packers are looking to bring in a veteran quarterback to add to the roster.
The Packers’ depth at quarterback is only Rodgers and Jordan Love. If the Packers somehow keep Rodgers and either he or Love go down, they are left with only one. The Packers thought about drafting a quarterback in last week’s NFL Draft, but passed. They could have signed a college free agent following the NFL Draft but didn’t. Now they are looking at adding a veteran through free agency.
The choices for NFL quarterbacks this late in free agency are slim. The few they could choose from include Brian Hoyer, Robert Griffin III, Blake Bortles, and Nick Mullens.
Hoyer has 12 years of NFL experience. He served mostly as a backup quarterback for the New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, and Indianapolis Colts. In his career, Hoyer started 39 games but his record is 16-23.
His stats don’t jump out with 10,404 passing yards, 52 touchdowns, and 35 interceptions. Hoyer makes sense as another arm for the Packers. He knows the NFL game and can do some things on the field if called upon. The only issue with him is his age at 35 years old. They may want somebody younger.
Robert Griffin III isn’t as old as Hoyer at 31 years old. He has played for Washington, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Griffin began his career as the starting quarterback for Washington from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, he has been a backup. As a starter, Griffin’s record is 16-26. When he gets a chance to play, Griffin can use his vision not only to throw the football, but run with it too. He has thrown for 9,271 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions.
The best part about Griffin’s play is his ability to run the football. This allows him to buy more time to throw the football or he will take off downfield. He rushed for 1,809 yards and 10 touchdowns. Griffin though will take a chance and a defender can hit him which could cause an injury. If he is called upon, he needs to slide to avoid them. Packers could use a playmaker like him.
Bortles doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because he hasn’t had significant playing time since 2018 with Jacksonville. He has been a starter in this league with the Jaguars. Bortles’ record is 24-49. In those games, he tossed for 17,649 yards with 103 touchdowns and 75 picks. The only reason he could make sense is his knowledge of the game. The Packers are better off trying to find someone else to fill the void.
Mullens is the youngest of the group at age 26. He has played 3 seasons in the NFL all with the San Francisco 49ers. Mullens appeared in 19 games for the 49ers, starting 16 of them with a disappointing record of 5-11. He still found his open receivers for 1st downs or longer with 4,714 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. The downside to Mullens is he will try forcing a pass downfield when the receiver is covered resulting in turnovers with a total of 22 picks. Those have flipped field position and the opponent’s offense has a great start to a drive to put points on the scoreboard.
The Packers might try to lure recently retired Alex Smith out of retirement but that would be a long shot. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense. Smith has already decided he is done with football. It would be a waste of a phone call because Smith isn’t going to unretire to be the backup in Green Bay. The chances are very slim Smith would want to suit up again.
Green Bay is going to do what they feel is best moving forward at the quarterback position. They know for sure Jordan Love will be on the roster. They hope Aaron Rodgers has a change of heart and comes back. That only depends on the General Manager situation. The Packers should work out their differences with Rodgers and Gutekunst. Even with this situation, Green Bay needs to add another quarterback for depth. These could be the options for them or Green Bay could find another in free agency. The worst case is they make a trade for one who is on a current roster, even if it costs them a 6th or 7th round draft pick in a future draft.
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