Brett Favre: Packers sent 'disrespect message' to Aaron Rodgers, expects he'll finish his career elsewhere
Brett Favre has been here before.
And he has some candid thoughts about the Green Bay Packers using a first-round draft pick on quarterback Jordan Love. He doesn’t fault Love. But he thinks the Packers did wrong by Aaron Rodgers and expects that there will be consequences.
Like many, Favre was taken aback by the Packers trading up in the first round to select a quarterback.
“I was very surprised,” Favre told SirusXM NFL Radio. “Actually I was more surprised than when Aaron was drafted in my situation way back when.
“They were several plays away from the Super Bowl. ... To me, it sends a message to Aaron. 'We're preparing for our future first and deal with our present after.’”
The Packers, who fell one win short of playing in the Super Bowl last season are in desperate need of wide receiver help. Last week’s draft was one of the deepest at the position in league history with standouts like Clemson’s Tee Higgins and USC’s Michael Pittman Jr. still on the board when the Packers selected.
Instead they chose a backup quarterback, to the dismay of most.
“I don’t know what that immediate need would have been,” Favre continued. “But I would think maybe another receiver, someone who can come and start right away with the assumption it can get us to the Super Bowl.”
Favre: Packers ‘sent disrespect message’ to Rodgers
Favre was similarly candid on the “Rich Eisen Show” and said that the Packers sent the wrong message to their franchise quarterback with two MVPs and a Super Bowl ring.
“Green Bay’s one of [the teams] that should be playing for now,” Favre told Eisen. “They don’t draft any weapons, not just in the first round, but any weapons that can help immediately to my knowledge. And that just sends a disrespect message to Aaron Rodgers.”
The Packers drafted two offensive skill position players — second-round running back A.J. Dillon and third-round tight end Josiah Deguara.
With Aaron Jones and his 1,500 scrimmage yards and 19 total touchdowns from last season leading the Packers backfield, the selection of Dillon was almost as equally baffling as the Love pick. Neither Dillon nor Deguara is going to fill the wideout void across from Davante Adams in the Packers offense.
Favre knows the drill
Favre, of course, was in Rodgers’ position when the Packers drafted Rodgers as his successor in 2005. Favre played three more seasons in Green Bay before giving way to Rodgers and finishing his career with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings.
Despite the potential for animosity, Favre told Eisen that “Aaron and I get along great.” He said he spoke with Rodgers after the draft and that he was “surprised” by the selection of Love.
Favre thinks Rodgers will eventually leave Packers
He made clear that he wasn’t speaking for Rodgers when he said this, but he told Eisen he believes that the Love selection will cause irreparable damage to Rodgers’ relationship with the team and result in Rodgers finishing his career somewhere else.
“I think they burned a bridge that’s gonna be hard to overcome,” Favre told Eisen. “At some point, I think it will rear its ugly head. ...
“I think Aaron will finish somewhere else. That’s my gut. I guarantee you this. It’s got the wheel’s turning in Aaron’s mind. If that’s the case, then that means there’s a chip on his shoulder toward the organization that otherwise was not there.”
In the meantime, he doesn’t expect Rodgers to groom his potential replacement.
“It’s not his job to mentor Jordan Love,” Favre said. “This discussion went on when I left Green Bay. It’s not the head guy’s job to mentor the next guy. That guy is ultimately there to take your spot.”
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