While Bears general manager Ryan Poles was taking a calculated, disciplined and perhaps fruitful dip into free agent waters — coming to agreement with linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and guard Nate Davis — a move he had nothing to do with was arguably making as big an impact on the Bears’ fortunes.
Aaron Rodgers appears on his way out of Green Bay.
The four-time NFL Most Valuable Player, with the Packers’ blessing to play where he wants in 2023 despite being under contract through 2024, reportedly has decided to play for the Jets. The Packers and Jets were working on a trade throughout the day Monday, and it seemed like only an unexpected glitch would put the kibosh on the deal. Still, hold all celebrations until the trade is official — anything is possible with the quirky Rodgers, for better or worse.
Bears fans who have been tormented by Rodgers for the past 15 years will throw in whatever is necessary to close the deal. Rodgers is 25-5 as a starter against the Bears. His best 10 games are absolutely galling — 10-0 with 39 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 141.8 passer rating. But even in his 10 worst games against the Bears, Rodgers is 7-3 — including a victory in the NFC Championship Game in 2011 — despite a 78.3 average rating.
Will Rodgers’ departure mark the end of the Packers’ golden era? You would have probably gone broke betting on the Packers demise over the last 30 years, as Brett Favre and then Rodgers always seemed to revitalize when the Packers needed it most.
The apparent Rodgers trade to the Jets breathes new life into the Favre-Rodgers-Jordan Love transition narrative. Just as Favre was traded to the Jets after mentoring Rodgers for three seasons, Rodgers will be traded to the Jets after mentoring Love for three seasons.
It might still work out, but that narrative was flawed from the day Love was drafted 26th overall in 2020. Though both Rodgers and Love were both late-first-round picks, Rodgers was a much more touted prospect who could have gone first overall to the 49ers in 2005. Love wasn’t even a first-round pick in some mock drafts in 2020.
And the Favre-Rodgers dynamic was a perfect set up that allowed Rodgers to not only emulate Favre’s best traits, but also improve upon Favre’s gunslinging that was the source of his greatest plays but also his biggest gaffes — interceptions and pick-6s. What can Jordan Love do better than Rodgers?
So while Rodgers’ imminent departure is a monumental event for the Packers, It’s a big one for the Bears as well. From the day Poles was hired as GM last year, Rodgers’ eventual demise was one of his biggest assets. When Phil Emery was hired in 2012, Rodgers was 28. When Ryan Pace was hired in 2015, Rodgers was 31. When Poles was hired in 2022, Rodgers was 38. And although Rodgers was at the top of his game — winning back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021 — he couldn’t go on forever.
The fact of the matter is that any sustained success the Bears have had since George Halas retired has coincided with a Packers downturn. In the heart of the Ditka era (1984-88), the Bears were 60-16 while the Packers were 27-48-1. The revival under Lovie Smith in 2005 (11-5) and 2006 (13-3) — the only back-to-back playoff seasons since the Ditka era — just happened to come when Brett Favre had two of his worst seasons. The Bears went 24-8. With Favre slumping, the Packers went 12-20.
Now the Bears are building again — with more hope than in previous regimes because of Justin Fields’ promising second season. And the Packers could be in for a fall if Love doesn’t replace Rodgers as well as Rodgers replaced Favre.
Timing is everything.
