The Brett Hundley backup experiment is over. Their best player makes financial history. The Packers quarterback situation is rightfully corrected.
Since 2015, the Packers waited to see if their plan B picked in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft was going to be a success. If you watched last season, your hopes shouldn’t be high. Today, the Packers traded Hundley to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2019 sixth-round pick.
In March 2018, this was the beginning of the end as soon as former Packers executive/current Browns general manager John Dorsey traded 2017 starter DeShone Kizer to Green Bay for cornerback Damarious Randall. Predictably, the 2018 preseason began against the Titans on a Thursday evening. Hundley was looking great, moving the ball downfield, scoring touchdowns and making himself look good under the lights at Lambeau Field.
However, in this writer’s opinion. I have seen this movie since the 2015 preseason, when he threw four touchdowns in the preseason finale against the Saints. In 2016 and 2017, he looked capable and there was hope that this experiment would be ready if Aaron Rodgers went down.
Week 6 of the 2017 season, Rodgers breaks his collarbone vs the Vikings. Time to rip open the Plan B envelope and put Hundley behind center for the rest of the season. It was underwhelming. Finished the season with nine touchdowns, 12 interceptions, sacked 29 times and worst of all, the Packers missed the playoffs.
This move set the Packers’ quarterback situation right…at last.
Suddenly, this bombshell hit the wire this afternoon.
According to former Packers wideout James Jones, Rodgers and the Packers agreed to a four-year extension worth $134 million and guaranteed $100 million making him the highest paid player in NFL history.
I’m trying hard to not become speechless.
However, he already had 2 years left on his previous deal, so do the math as Rodgers will make $175.5 million over the next six years through 2023. Rodgers will be paid $80 million from now to next March, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Now, what does that mean for the quarterback situation going forward?
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers are planning to keep three quarterbacks for the 2018 season which means that Kizer and Tim Boyle will be playing in the preseason finale at Kansas City on Thursday night and both will be making the team.
That’s one position taken care of, eight to go as September 1st closes in.
1 response to “Packers trade Hundley, keep Rodgers through 2023:”
Hundley had three years to prepare to run the offense if Rodgers was unavailable, and when his time came, he was not prepared. Next man up.
I watched him very, very closely this preseason, like the former coach I am. I saw two disturbing trends. First, he does appear to lock onto his receivers, and that’s going to be fatal against good DBs.
Second, he does not appear to see receivers who are about to break open. If you wait until the guy is open to throw it, it gives the DB an opportunity to close. If you throw it right as he’s breaking open, it’s more likely to arrive without incident. Hundley doesn’t do that.
So, I’m kind of glad he’s gone. Kizer can’t be a lot worse, and he might be better.
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The Aaron Rodgers deal…….I think the list of QBs who have won Super Bowls at his age is a pretty short list. Aaron Rodgers is awesome, and if anybody can beat the odds it’s him, but a lot of great QBs have been unable to do so.
I would have preferred a younger QB with a smaller salary so we could afford to put a team around him and let them grow together. We’ll see how this works out.