The Green Bay Packers' decision to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love was arguably the most shocking decision of the 2020 NFL Draft.

While it is true Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be 37 later this year, the Packers are coming off an NFC Championship berth despite the fact they had limited receiving options for Rodgers to throw to last season.

But rather than playing for this year and adding a wideout in a deep class of receivers, the Packers traded up to select a quarterback for the future.

Rodgers was reportedly “pissed off” after the Packers selected Love, and the decision prompted an interesting thought experiment: what if the New England Patriots traded for Rodgers?

The Patriots had been preparing for life without Tom Brady, but Green Bay's signaling of drafting for the future seemed to present a potential opportunity for them to replace Brady with another elite quarterback in Rodgers.

However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted salary cap consequences makes it almost impossible for the Packers to trade for Rodgers:

There’s a sudden and palpable sense that the Packers are planning for life without Rodgers, but the cap consequences make it impossible to trade him before June 1, difficult (but not impossible) to trade him after June 1, difficult (but not impossible) to trade him before next June 1 of next year, challenging (but much easier) to trade him after June 1 of next year, and likely that he’ll be traded in 2022.

Indeed, Rodgers' contract has massive dead cap hits before June 1 of this year (over $45 million), per Over The Cap, and the next few seasons hardly look any rosier.

The Packers have a potential out after 2021, though cutting Rodgers would still cost over $17 million.

In essence–even if the Patriots were indeed hoping to trade for Rodgers–the Packers would not be able to deal their star quarterback without causing a ripple effect on their future cap situation.