Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy believes it will take quite some time to determine whether or not Jordan Love is the team's long-term answer at quarterback.
After many years of speculation about his future, Aaron Rodgers is no longer the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets this offseason, paving the way for 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love to become the starting quarterback. Even before starting the upcoming season, the Packers signed Love to a one-year extension after failing to pick up his fifth-year option.
The pressure will be on Love to prove they made the right choice in trading up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to select him. Let's just say that fans are going to have high expectations for him because Rodgers had won two NFL MVPs in two of the past three seasons.
But what about the team?
While speaking with the media on Monday, Packers team president Mark Murphy stressed patience with Love, as he gets a feel for being a starting quarterback in the NFL. In terms of how long it will take Murphy to determine whether Love is the team's long-term answer, he said about half of the upcoming season.
Packers president needs half a season to determine whether Jordan Love is the answer
"I'm comparing it a little bit to Aaron's first year as a starter, yeah, I'd say at least half a season to know," said Murphy, h/t ESPN. "And I think even though we ended up with a losing record that year, but we saw enough of Aaron to know that we had something special."
As Murphy brings up, it took about half of the 2008 season for the team to determine that Rodgers was the answer and the successor of Brett Favre. They will now be hoping that Love can give them a firm idea of whether or not they will need to scout quarterbacks in next year's draft.
Love received some brief playing time in his first three years in the league. There was the start against the Kansas City Chiefs in place of Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19, in the 2021 season. Love threw for 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while completing 19-of-34 pass attempts in the 13-7 loss. Then, there was his appearance last season against the Philadelphia Eagles, where he completed six-of-nine pass attempts for 113 yards and one touchdown in the 40-33 loss.
Various Packers players have expressed confidence in Love to be the guy to lead the team for the foreseeable future. While that's all well and good, Packers fans are undoubtedly going to want to see results early on. But for the team, they will take their time in their evaluation process to see if they should stick with Love beyond the 2023 season, or prepare for some fallback options.