Packers Insider: 'A Chance' Jordan Love Requests Trade If Aaron Rodgers Starts

If Aaron Rodgers remains with the Green Bay Packers, Jordan Love might end up getting moved to a team that will give him the opportunity to start.

Per The Athletic's Matt Schneidman, there is "a chance" Love will request a trade and the Packers will grant it if Rodgers decides he wants to play in Green Bay in 2023.

Rodgers began his darkness retreat late last week and could emerge at any point to provide some clarity about what his future holds. The four-time NFL MVP has acknowledged that the decision of where he plays next season isn't entirely up to him.

"If they feel like it was in the best interests of the team to move forward, so be it," Rodgers said last month on The Pat McAfee Show (h/t ESPN's Rob Demovsky). "Again, that wouldn't offend me, and it wouldn't make me feel like a victim. I wouldn't have any animosity towards the team. I love the organization."

Per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told an NFL colleague at some point during the 2022 season "he was convinced it was time the organization move on from" Rodgers to give Love a chance.

It's unclear when Gutekunst felt that way, though there was a point when the Packers were struggling with a 4-8 record when Rodgers acknowledged it would make business sense for the team to bench him and give Love a few starts to see what he can do.

The Packers won their next four games with Rodgers starting to remain in the playoff mix. They were eliminated from contention with a 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 18.

Gutekunst told reporters on Jan. 13 the Packers "made a really big commitment" to Rodgers last offseason that "wasn't certainly for just this year" at the time. He signed a three-year, $150 million contract extension.

After Rodgers and the rest of the team struggled for most of the 2022 season, this could be the right time for both sides to move on.

The Packers invested a first-round pick in Love during the 2020 NFL draft. He has only made one start in the past three seasons and could be entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2023, unless the Packers exercise his fifth-year option this offseason.