Grading the Packers: Quarterbacks

Our grades are focused on performance relative to the salary cap. Aaron Rodgers was a bargain at any price during the regular season.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Player grades are a staple series of stories at the end of every NFL season. Ours are different, as we grade based on their impact relative to the salary cap. That’s because the cap is such a big part of building a roster.

Not only must a team’s high-priced players deliver but it must have some of its less-expensive players outperform their contracts. Generally, the Green Bay Packers got high marks from both groups in posting their third consecutive 13-win season, though too many fell flat in the playoffs.

This series leads off with the quarterbacks. All salary data is from OverTheCap.com.

Grading the Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers ($27.53 million cap charge; ranking No. 3 among quarterbacks)

The restructured contract that was part of Rodgers’ return to the team made him a huge bargain. The two quarterbacks with a higher cap charge, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, and the quarterback right below him, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, failed to even post a winning record.

Rodgers is likely to win his fourth MVP, an unlikely accomplishment in light of how he infuriated so many media members with his stance on COVID. In the Super Bowl era, there have been only five seasons in which a quarterback ranked No. 1 in passer rating, touchdown percentage and interception percentage. Rodgers did it 2020 and again in 2021.

On the same page as coach Matt LaFleur and sharing the same brain as Davante Adams, Green Bay’s passing game was superb during the second half of the season. He finished the season with 37 touchdowns vs. four interceptions – including 37 touchdowns vs. two picks after Week 1. He finished fourth in YAC per completion, a byproduct of his accuracy putting his receivers in position to turn something into something more.

However, what happened in the playoffs can't be ignored. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2010, Rodgers is 7-9 in playoff games. He has lost four NFC Championship Games. Three times, he lost in overtime. Five times, he lost on the final play of the game. Six times, the defense allowed more than 30 points.

While the special teams stunk, the divisional-round loss to San Francisco falls on his shoulders for wasting a superb performance by the defense. Nonetheless, the Packers want him back for the long haul. Green Bay’s status as a championship contender in 2022 will depend on it.

“I think the older you get, the smarter you have to get in a number of different areas,” Rodgers said late in the season when asked to compare a potential 2021 MVP with his first MVP season of 2011. “Obviously, the experience gives you a lot of banked memories you can draw from, but physically, just from a physical standpoint, I probably weighed between 225 and 230 the majority of the season in 2011, and I’ve been between 215 and 220 in the majority of this season, so that 10 pounds has made a big difference for me. It’s allowed me to still move in the pocket, to still keep legs.”

Grade: A-minus.

Jordan Love ($2.81 million cap charge; ranking No. 40 among quarterbacks)

Getting his first real playing time, Love did nothing to provide confidence that he could possibly be the winning successor to Rodgers. The Packers lost four games during the regular season; Love had a hand in two.

Starting against Kansas City and playing the second half against Detroit, Love completed 58.1 percent of his passes with two touchdowns, three interceptions and a 68.7 passer rating. Of the 50 quarterbacks with at least Love’s 62 attempts, he ranked 46th in passer rating, 44th in completion percentage and 47th in interception percentage. He threw only one fewer interception than Rodgers despite throwing 469 fewer passes. That will never be winning football.

“The same it is for every other guy. You’ve got to come back to be the best version of yourself,” LaFleur said of his offseason message for Love. “I think Jordan’s come a long way. I still think, with any young player that hasn’t gotten maybe the experience up to this point, there’s still a lot of room for growth. It’s going to be an important offseason. When he does come back, it’s making sure that his footwork is sharp, that he’s on the details of what we’re trying to accomplish on each and every play and all the concepts, really a mastery of the offense, and just the command that he has. I know he takes that to heart and he takes it very personally and he’ll do whatever he can to be his best.”

Grade: F.

Kurt Benkert ($193,067 cap charge; ranking No. 93 among quarterbacks)

Benkert spent most of the season on the practice squad but took a knee for two snaps at the end of the Dec. 12 rout of the Chicago Bears. Obviously, with Rodgers and Love, Benkert wasn’t going to play. Nonetheless, he was a nice story this year. When Benkert ran out of the tunnel for that game, it marked his first real game in 1,445 days dating to the Military Bowl that capped Virginia’s 2017 season. He originally signed in May and outlasted veteran Blake Bortles. This summer, he’ll have to beat out Danny Etling to stay on the roster.

“There’s so many little things in your game that you can improve on,” Benkert said before the Chicago game. “Even a guy like Aaron, he’s been in the league for 17 years, he still corrects himself on things and goes out with a purpose and has a few things he wants to work on. For me, I got a long ways to go. Behind the scenes, that’s my only job really is the little things. I try to just knock a little bit out a time and that kind of keeps me going.”

Grade: Incomplete.

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Green Bay Packers’ 2022 Opponents

Here is a look at next season’s opponents. The dates and times for the games will be announced in the spring; the 2021 schedule was announced on May 12. Teams with an asterisk qualified for the playoffs.

Home: NFC North

Chicago Bears (6-11), Detroit Lions (3-13-1), Minnesota Vikings (8-9).

Home: NFC East

Dallas Cowboys* (12-5), New York Giants (4-13).

Home: AFC East

New England Patriots* (10-7), New York Jets (4-13).

Home: NFC North Winner

Los Angeles Rams* (12-5).

Home: Game 17 (Winner AFC South)

Tennessee Titans* (12-5).

Away: NFC North

Chicago Bears (6-11), Detroit Lions (3-13-1), Minnesota Vikings (8-9).

Away: NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles* (9-8), Washington Football Team (7-10).

Away: AFC East

Buffalo Bills* (11-6), Miami Dolphins (9-8).

Away: NFC South Winner

Tampa Bay Buccaneers* (13-4).