Although Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers into the NFC Championship Game and is still under contract until the 2023 season, General Manager Brian Gutekunst is already looking for a successor.

Aaron Rodgers has been the face of the Green Bay Packers for many years. Drafted in 2005, he has led the “Cheeseheads” as starting quarterback for twelve years and won the Super Bowl once.

In the meantime, the franchise icon is 36 years old. The question inevitably arises as to when the team is planning for the time after Rodgers.

The answer: possibly already this year.

General Manager Brian Gutekunst already announced when he took office in January 2018 that one of his main tasks would be to find and promote Rodgers’ successor.

Many good quarterbacks at the Draft 2020
“Sure”, he replied to “ESPN” when asked whether he might be tackling long-term cadre planning this year. “The planning always starts with the quarterback. There’s a good group of quarterbacks in the draft – there’s a little more depth than in previous years.”

The Packers are in 30th place in the 2020 draft for the first time. The absolute top quarterbacks like Joe Burrow (LSU Tigers), Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama Crimson Tide) and Justin Herbert (Oregon Ducks) should be off the market by then.

Jacob Eason or Jordan Love in focus?
But even in the “second row” there are promising passers-by such as Jacob Eason (Washington Huskies) or Jordan Love (Utah State Aggies) who are considered candidates for the late first round.

Will the Packers select one of these passers?

In any case, Gutekunst has experience in looking for a future franchise quarterback. He was a scout for the Packers when Rodgers was picked to succeed franchise legend Brett Favre.

“There were a lot of people who weren’t enthusiastic about it,” Gutekunst recalls. But he knows: “It is anything but a waste of time to develop a young quarterback. You never know when you’re gonna need one

Praise for Rodgers – “played on a high level”
Rodgers is still under contract with the Packers until the 2023 season. Gutekunst does not want to see the fact that a potential successor is already being sought as a criticism of Rodgers: “Aaron played at a really high level last year. I look forward to his second year with coach Matt LaFleur.”

It remains to be seen, however, whether Rodgers will like the plans of his superior.