Schefter: Packers Didn't Need to Trade Up to Pick Jordan Love in 2020 NFL Draft

Timothy Rapp @@TRappaRTFeatured ColumnistMay 5, 2020

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, Utah State quarterback Jordan Love works out at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis. For the first time in two decades the New England Patriots are preparing for the NFL draft without a clear picture of who their starting quarterback will be in 2020. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

One of the most controversial picks in the 2020 NFL draft was the Green Bay Packers selecting Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, both because the team already had future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the roster and because the team gave up valuable assets to trade up to nab him.

Turns out they potentially could have stayed put and still drafted him, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter (h/t Evan Silva of EstablishTheRun.com):

Evan Silva @evansilva
More Schefter: “I don’t believe that (the #Packers) had to move up to go get Jordan Love. I believe they could have sat where they were. But they liked the guy enough to go trade up, and that’s their call.” Link to listen to full podcast: https://t.co/rQ32NL1OZT

The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport had also previously reported other teams weren't interested in moving up to get Love.

The Packers traded the Nos. 30 and 136 selections to the Miami Dolphins for the No. 26 pick, using it to take Love. That caused an instant uproar in Green Bay, with fans furious that the Packers chose to use such a high pick on Rodgers' eventual successor rather than getting him more weapons. The Packers, after all, went 13-3 last season and reached the NFC Championship Game.

The belief among many Packers fans was that the pick would have been better utilized adding a player who could have contributed immediately to a team with Super Bowl aspirations in 2020. Namely, it seemed as though addressing wide receiver would have been a logical option, especially given the depth at the position in this year's draft.

Packers fans, then, were only left further incensed when the team didn't draft a single wideout and appeared to eschew many positions of need.

Zach Kruse @zachkruse2
Point of the tweet was this: Packers' internal plans did not match outside perceptions of needs. In fact, there was a huge disconnect.

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It's hard to imagine Schefter's report being met with anything less than frustration from Packers fans, many already unhappy with the Love pick. Granted, if Love ends up being the next great quarterback in Green Bay, nobody will be crying over the decision in a decade.

For now, however, it remains a contentious pick.