There have suddenly been prominent questions around star quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ future with the Green Bay Packers. That came about after the team elected to move up into the first round of the 2020 NFL draft to take former Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, which has signaled that the franchise could be putting in place their next cornerstone at the position. It has opened the door to chatter concerning potentially landing spots for Rodgers down the line that could see him venture west to play for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Packers moving toward next plans after Aaron Rodgers

One of the surprises from this year’s draft came in the first round as the Packers decided to move into the back end of the first round to take the former Utah State quarterback.

In the weeks leading into the draft, there had been indications that Green Bay held an interest in Love, but there wasn’t a strong belief that they would snag a quarterback in the first round.

There were no rumblings concerning the Packers wanting to move on from Rodgers, but he’s nearing the back end of his 30s that likely drew the concern for the team getting their next quarterback in place.

The move isn’t an indication that Rodgers’ status as the starter is in question for the 2020 campaign, but it does put a ticking clock on his remaining time with the franchise.

Aaron Rodgers’s inevitable path to Raiders?

There hasn’t been any traction toward trade rumors for Rodgers, but it does beg the question about how much longer he will play with the Packers. The star quarterback is currently in the first year of his massive four-year, $134 million extension that runs through the 2023 season.

It’s extremely unlikely that the Packers will look to move him the next two years as he holds a $51.1 million dead cap hit in 2020 and $31.5 million in 2021, but that number drops to $17.4 after the 2021 campaign. With that in mind, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has suggested that the Las Vegas Raiders sound like a reasonable landing spot for Rodgers.

So it makes sense to look to the AFC for potential locations for Rodgers, and the one team that stands out the most (sorry, Derek Carr) is the Raiders. Jon Gruden, Aaron Rodgers, the Silver and Black. Las Vegas. It just makes too much sense to not happen.

Again, it’s all pure speculation at this point, but the Raiders quarterback situation has many question marks. Derek Carr has regressed since his breakout 2016 season, and the team elected to bring in Marcus Mariota, who likely didn’t sign with the team on a two-year, $17.6 million deal without the notion that he could compete for the starting job.

Carr is currently in the third year of his five-year, $125 million deal, but have a substantial financial burden tied to them if they parted ways. He holds a $7.9 million cap hit for the 2020 season, $2.5 million for 2021, and none at all in 2022. What that could mean is that the Raiders could ties after the 2021 campaign with Carr, effectively leaving their quarterback position wide open.

Aaron Rodgers’ time ticking in Green Bay

Regardless of the rumor mill about possible future destinations, the Packers’ decision to take Love in the first round of this year’s draft is a crystal-clear message that they are planning for life after Rodgers.

There is no indication yet about how much further down the road that is, but that indicates this may very well be his final contract with Green Bay. Likely, he won’t make it through the duration of the deal.

It’s a stark reality, but one that Rodgers will have to start coming to terms that his time with the Packers will end sooner than he hopes.