The NFL is a league full of turnover. Maintaining stability in the front office and building strong rosters annually is difficult. The Green Bay Packers are different and have been a model for success in the NFL.
How the Green Bay Packers Built a Model for Success in the Modern NFL
Building a Quarterback Factory
Ron Wolf can be accredited for Green Bay’s recent success by establishing the model for developing quarterbacks. Back in the 1990s, Wolf oversaw a Packers team that made a bold move to trade for Brett Favre. A second-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1991 NFL Draft, Favre was a polarizing prospect. Wolf wanted Favre. however, and made the move to get him before the 1992 season. The rest was history for the Packers organization, but that conviction for a quarterback helped set the model for success in Green Bay. Even with Favre in the fold, the team prioritized having depth at quarterback. Over the years, Wolf drafted players like Matt Hassleback, Mark Brunnell, and Aaron Brooks.
Famously, the Packers selected Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 NFL Draft. Favre was coming off four consecutive years leading the Packers to double-digit wins, and the pick was a major surprise. While it was not Wolf who selected Rodgers, his fingerprints were all over the organization for the years to come. History repeated itself in 2020 when Green Bay drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the NFL Draft. Again, the pick was scrutinized and came as a surprise. Again, the decision has paid off.
Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Falcons have recently taken this approach, but not without consequences. A locker room can be a fragile place in the NFL, and creating division among players over who is starting can cause problems for the team. But the NFL is a business and winning is what fuels ticket sales. The Chiefs brass would likely decide to trade up for Patrick Mahomes a hundred times over. Atlanta has cited Green Bay’s success as a factor in their decision to pick Penix. Scouting quarterbacks is an inexact science. It takes conviction to find the right one, and there’s no proven formula. Teams wait decades to find their franchise quarterback and still never do. By not taking a swing in the draft, a team can fail to take that next step in finding a great quarterback.
Supporting a Young Quarterback With Young Weapons
With Love entering his first full season as a starter for the Packers in 2023, the team went heavy on adding weapons through the draft. While some will point to their lack of emphasis on the position while Rodgers was the starter, the approach makes sense. When Rodgers took over, the team had a mix of young and veteran talent at receiver. The team did use multiple second-round picks on a receiver in Rodgers’ first few seasons as a starter, though. For Love, the idea was to build around him with young talent through the draft. The early returns on players like Romeo Doubbs, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Luke Musgrave, and Tucker Kraft appear strong. By building the nucleus around Love now, the team can maximize their window for contention.
The New England Patriots took a similar approach in the 2024 NFL Draft. Having Jacoby Brissett in place as the starter allows the team to develop rookie Drake Maye before handing him the keys to the franchise. The Patriots also added a handful of young receivers in the draft after selecting Maye. Uncoincidentally, the man who had sway in the draft room is the son of Ron Wolf. Eliot Wolf saw first-hand what could be accomplished with a sound approach to team-building in his time in Green Bay and took that philosophy to New England. Coming into the 2024 NFL season, the Patriots look vastly improved on offense and it was through the help of Wolf. Having seen the model for success that the Green Bay Packers have established in the modern NFL, more teams could start to follow suit.
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