Aaron Rodgers is struggling to match the example that Tom Brady set as a player GM.
Every superstar in sports wants some control over how their team is situated. Players in the NBA like LeBron James are famous for constructing teams with players that they have good chemistry with, and NFL players like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are no different in that regard.
Unfortunately for Rodgers, wanting to have a say in how the team is run is very different from actually having a voice in what the team does.
Brady, who is the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history, is perhaps equally good at building a roster. Fans in Tampa had some trepidations about Brady coming in and making a ton of changes, but we can all say this was the right decision in hindsight.
The presence of Brady alone with the Buccaneers brought Rob Gronkowski, a Hall of Fame tight end, Antonio Brown, a Hall of Fame wide receiver if you can look past some poor personal decisions, and Leonard Fournette, a young running back that has the skillset to become an All-Pro.
Without Brady, Brown and Gronk at least would probably still be out of the NFL. Brady pushed hard for both, even going against the wishes of Bruce Arians to sign Brown, but Arians made the right decision when allowing his generational quarterback to push that decision.
When you have an all-time great like Brady, you have to do everything in your power to keep him happy, and sometimes that means letting him make the decisions that he thinks will put him in the best position to win.
Aaron Rodgers falls short of the Tom Brady standard
This whole offseason has been one big mess for Green Bay. Rodgers has been pretty vocal for the past year at his displeasure over the team signing Jordan Love, and decisions like that show that Rodgers was very far out of the discussion process on significant team decisions.
That draft pick alone could have killed Rodgers’ future with the Packers, but Green Bay had a chance to salvage the relationship by letting their all-time great quarterback make more decisions on the team front.
The Packers finally relented, and Rodgers showed interest in returning after a long few months, but Rodgers’ first move as a “general manager” was an interesting decision at best.
At the behest of Rodgers, the Packers traded with the Houston Texans for longtime teammate Randall Cobb. On its face, giving up a sixth-round pick for one of Rodgers’ favorite targets doesn’t feel like much, but it fails to consider a much bigger flaw in the decision-making process.
Why Cobb?
Cobb is a mediocre wide receiver, but to pretend that he is the one thing this offense was missing is hilariously misguided. With one singular season during his career with 16 starts and over 1,000 yards, Cobb’s time in the NFL has been decent, but never much more than that.
Of all the wide receiver free agents and trade options in the NFL, Rodgers chose to champion for a friend over talent, and unlike Brady, Rodgers’ friends aren’t nearly as good at football.
The free-agent pool wasn’t bursting at the seams with talent for Rodgers to work with, but there were plenty of better receivers throughout the NFL that the Packers could’ve traded for that would have a much better impact.
While it is a bit premature to judge Rodgers on one decision when he probably has a few more that he can make before the start of the season, perhaps we are starting to see why the Packers were so wary of letting him make any big decisions in the past.
To be fair to Rodgers, it’s very hard to be Tom Brady. The GOAT is still playing well when he is about turn 44, his roster decisions have been nothing short of perfect with the Buccaneers, and the Super Bowl rings in his possession seem to increase by the year.
Cobb could work out in Green Bay if everything goes perfectly, but it still seems like a long shot. If you look past the one great season for the recent Packer addition, this move would look a lot like Brady pushing for a trade for Danny Amendola when he arrived in Tampa. You have to give your quarterback the freedom to make some decisions, but that move by Brady would’ve landed him in some hot water quickly, so it is more than fair to show the same response to Rodgers.
Want to write about the Buccaneers? Apply below!