Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
EXTRA POINT Rodgers closes in on major team records
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will turn 37 years old in December and must now fight off a firstround pick – Jordan Love, who the Packers traded up to get and is certainly expected to be Rodgers’ eventual replacement – to remain the long-term quarterback in Titletown.
For better or worse, the clock is now ticking on Rodgers’ time in Green Bay.
Legacy means a lot to Rodgers, who has said several times he wants to play his entire career with the Packers. Even he can admit that goal is now unlikely. While creating a legacy is much more than just accumulating stats, Rodgers may now only have a few years to pass Brett Favre for several of the team’s most significant passing records.
Here’s where Rodgers stands in several statistical categories entering 2020:
Passing yards
Brett Favre: 61,655
Aaron Rodgers: 46,946 Needed to pass: 14,710 Rodgers has averaged 4,287 passing yards per 16 games since taking over as the Packers starter in 2008. If that pace holds, Rodgers would need to play about three and a half more seasons to pass Favre. Even if Rodgers averaged his career-high in passing yards (4,643) over the next three years, he wouldn’t pass Favre. He’d need to average a little over 4,903 yards per season for three seasons to get it done.
Passing touchdowns
Brett Favre: 442
Aaron Rodgers: 364
Needed to pass: 79
Rodgers could average just over 26 touchdown passes per season over the next three seasons and pass Favre. Rodgers has eight career seasons with more than 26 touchdown passes, but he’s averaged only 25.5 the last two years and hasn’t reached 30 touchdown passes since the 2016 season. Two seasons of 40 touchdown passes – the number he hit in 2016 – would be enough.
Completions
Brett Favre: 5,377
Aaron Rodgers: 3,913
Needed to pass: 1,465 Rodgers will really need to extend his stay in Green Bay to catch Favre here. Rodgers’ career-high for completions in a season is 401, but he’d need a little over 488 per season to pass Favre in three years. Four years and 366 completions per season would be a lot more reasonable.
Team wins as a starting QB
Brett Favre: 160
Aaron Rodgers: 113
Needed to pass: 48
Rodgers would need to lead the Packers to three straight 16-0 seasons to pass Favre in three years. Even four years would require the Packers to win at least 12 per season. The latter scenario – with Rodgers helping the Packers continue to win a bunch of games every year – is his best chance at sticking in Green Bay beyond the next two or three seasons.
Team playoff wins as a starting QB
Brett Favre: 12
Aaron Rodgers: 11
Needed to pass: 2
Despite playing in three fewer playoff games than Favre, Rodgers needs just 14 completions and 285 passing yards to hold all the major volume passing statistics in Packers postseason history. Getting two more playoff wins as the starting quarterback would put Rodgers ahead of Favre in the all-important win column. Also, the two quarterbacks each have one Super Bowl ring. Can Rodgers pass Favre and get a second before he’s done in Green Bay?
Interceptions
Brett Favre: 286
Aaron Rodgers: 84
Needed to pass: 202
Rodgers could throw 30 interceptions every season for the next six seasons straight and still not pass Favre in interceptions.