Packers have opportunity with Aaron Rodgers healthy again

The Green Bay Packers have time, and yet they are running out of it all the same. Green Bay was one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LII a year ago. Only to watch Aaron Rodgers go down in October with a broken collarbone. Despite Brett Hundley’s best efforts, the Packers failed to reach the postseason. It was only the second time since Aaron Rodgers became the starting quarterback that the team missed out.

This offseason, new general manager Brian Gutekunst showed he isn’t much like his predecessor, Ted Thompson. Instead of avoiding free agency at all costs, Gutekunst got involved with a couple of big-name signings in Muhammad Wilkerson and Jimmy Graham. This bolstered two areas that needed some help. Of course, the Packers also moved on from wide receiver Jordy Nelson. The move saved much-needed cap space while losing a long-time Rodgers favorite.

At this juncture, the Green Bay Packers has to be aggressive in its pursuit of another Lombardi Trophy. The Packers have had either Brett Favre or Rodgers at the helm since the second week of the 1992 season. Somehow, they have won just two Super Bowls. With Rodgers now 34 years old (he turns 35 in December), Green Bay has to make a full-on charge toward a title, because one their second-consecutive Hall of Fame quarterback retires, it’ll be damn hard to find a third one.

The talent around Aaron Rodgers isn’t overwhelming. Although it should be good enough to compete in the stacked NFC. Davante Adams and Randall Cobb give him a pair of exciting playmakers on the outside, while Graham is still a player who can work the seam and dominate in the red zone, evidenced by his 10 touchdowns with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017.

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Up front, the offensive line remains one of the league’s best, even with the recent departures of T.J. Lang, JC Trettter and Josh Sutton. Few teams have the tackle tandem of David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga, keep Rodgers upright and clean.

The main concern has to be the defense, and particularly the secondary. The Green Bay Packers have to get something out of second-year man Kevin King, who might be head coach Mike McCarthy’s biggest ray of hope in an otherwise dismal unit. If the corners can even play average football, the Packers. have a real chance to compete in the NFC North with the Minnesota Vikings.

With Rodgers starting to near the twilight of his career, Green Bay has to figure out the best course of action moving forward. All that starts with the NFL Draft on March 26, which should see the Packers shoring up their secondary, adding some youth in the front seven and perhaps even getting a running back.

The time has come for the Packers to push all their chips toward the middle of the table.