Green Bay Packers

Should Green Bay Packers trade Jordan Love?

Published Apr. 13, 2022 2:26 p.m. ET

Aaron Rodgers is officially returning for his 18th year with the Green Bay Packers, meaning third-year quarterback Jordan Love will once again find himself in the background.

On Tuesday, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report said that Love had begun to take on a more active leadership role last offseason amid Rodgers' protests against the Packers. However, since Rodgers and the Packers have cleared the air, Green Bay is unsure whether Love is still their quarterback of the future and is considering trading him for a second-round pick.

"I think this preseason is important for him," Packers CEO Mark Murphy said to Tom Grossi of Packast last week. "We think he can be a good player, but we haven’t really seen enough.

"I think the preseason will be good for him."

Green Bay's trepidation is confusing to Colin Cowherd, however, who argues that the Packers should ditch Love this offseason.

"You've got three years of Utah State tape and two years of Green Bay practice tape [on Love] and you don't know? You know," Cowherd said Tuesday on "The Herd." "You date somebody for eight years and you're not sure? You know, right? Like, it doesn't take forever."

Love emerged as a relatively unheralded prospect out of Utah State, as the former three-star recruit exploded for 3,562 passing yards and 36 touchdowns during his sophomore season in the Mountain West. After a less spectacular third season with the Aggies, Love entered the 2020 NFL Draft and was selected by Green Bay with the 26th overall pick, a pick they traded up to get.

The Packers opted to make Love's first season a developmental one, placing him in the third-string role behind Tim Boyle before moving him into the backup role last season. Love made six appearances in 2021-22, along with a lone start against Kansas City, which didn't go wonderfully.

The sophomore quarterback completed 19 of his 34 passes for 190 yards, throwing an interception and a touchdown against the NFL's sixth-worst defense by yards allowed.

"My takeaway is, trade him [Love] now," Cowherd said. "The less you put them out there, the better. This league is so desperate to win, that when you have an average quarterback prospect or below-average quarterback, hide him and people just go, 'Oh yeah, I saw his tape. You know, he wasn't terrible against Kansas City. It's a tough team. He was on the road.'"

Cowherd also pointed to a number of examples where quarterback values have been inflated by riding the bench. Marcus Mariota spent the last three seasons as a backup in Tennessee and Las Vegas, only to sign on as the expected replacement for Matt Ryan in Atlanta. Similarly, Mitch Trubisky spent the last season playing second fiddle to Josh Allen in Buffalo before apparently landing the starting gig in Pittsburgh.

Mystique is a powerful tool, Cowherd argues, and the less teams have seen of Love, the less apparent his flaws are.

"I think the more you see of him, I think the more average he becomes," Cowherd said. "People will be less enthralled. [Love] was a bad pick. It happens. Get a third-round pick and move on."