The Green Bay Packers' decision to draft quarterback Jordan Love in the first round Thursday night reverberated maybe more than any other selection on Day 1.
While we've yet to get a reaction from Aaron Rodgers, his longtime teammate offered insight into how the two-time league MVP would be affected by the move.
"Let me tell y'all something right now: Look out!" Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari said during the 'Draft-A-Thon' live stream. "Aaron is about to be on fire."
That last point prompted Deion Sanders to press Rodgers' blindside protector for the past seven years for clarification.
"Look, he's already great when he is just chill," Bakhtiari explained. "But when I've seen him when he gets riled up ... Wooo! Getting my hair raised up right now, thinking about this."
Adding insult to intrigue is the fact Love was the Packers' first skill player drafted in the first round since ... Rodgers, back in 2005. It's something the all-world QB made note of earlier Thursday while appearing on the Pat McAfee Show. Just last month, Rodgers expressed his desire for management to bring in players that would help right away while vowing that a rookie quarterback wouldn't beat him out "anytime soon."
Green Bay not only took Love with its lone first-round pick but traded up to do it.
Much has been made about the situation's near parallels to Rodgers' own NFL entrance fifteen years ago. Brett Favre was 35 when the Packers drafted Rodgers with the No. 24 pick. Rodgers is 36; Love went No. 26.
A-Rod's presence as heir apparent didn't initially bring out the best in Favre, or Green Bay for that matter. The Hall of Fame QB threw a career-high 29 interceptions in 2005 while the Packers dipped from 10-6 the previous season to 4-12. The team went 8-8 in 2006 as Favre threw 18 touchdown passes, his fewest ever among 17 full seasons.
It wasn't until his third and final year alongside Rodgers that Favre returned to his Pro Bowl form and led the Packers to the NFC Championship Round. Year 3 with Love is also the time Green Bay's braintrust could be making a big decision on Rodgers, as his cap hit drops considerably from roughly $31.5 million to just over $17M in 2022.
But most interesting is how adding a potential replacement impacts the coming season -- for Rodgers, and a Packers team that three months ago was one win away from the Super Bowl.
