The Green Bay Packers are coming off a disappointing 2025 NFL season. After starting the season 5-1-1, the Packers went just 4-6 down the stretch. They saw their long-time rival Chicago Bears win the NFC North and knock them out of the NFL Playoffs. Additionally, Green Bay lost numerous players to injury throughout the course of the year, which played a part in their late-season struggles.
In 2026, the team is going to look very different. Numerous players left via NFL free agency, and both the offense and defense will feature new/younger starters/contributors.
But if they are to take the next step in the Jordan Love era, Wisconsin Badgers and NFL legend Joe Thomas thinks the star quarterback needs to make a specific demand.
Joe Thomas believes Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love needs to demand Matt LaFleur let him have the ball
Love has been the starting quarterback in Green Bay for three seasons now. Each year, the Packers have made the NFL Playoffs as the seventh seed. In order for them to take the next step, Thomas believes Love needs to demand that head coach Matt LaFleur let him have the ball:
“He needs to go into Matt LaFleur’s office and let him know, ‘I want the football’.”@joethomas73 thinks #Packers QB Jordan Love NEEDS to demand more trust and responsibility from his head coach.@WildeAndTausch | @ESPNMilwaukee pic.twitter.com/n30DpHPa0k
— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) March 27, 2026
“Jordan Love needs to take that step in accountability and leadership and understand that he is a top-five quarterback in the NFL. And he needs to go into Matt LaFleur’s office and let him know that, ‘I want the football. I want to be able to throw the football and have a large input on what we’re doing from a game plan standpoint and from an in-game adjustment stand point, from a play-call standpoint on the sidelines.
“‘I want to be treated with a level of responsibility and respect that Peyton Manning did, that Aaron Rodgers did, that Tom Brady did. Because if you want me to play like those guys, you’ve got to give me those expectations and that leash.’”
Love has been very good as Green Bay’s starting quarterback since taking over the offense in 2023. However, it is clear to see that the Packers are much more run-oriented with him under center than they were when Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback.
In four seasons with LaFleur as his head coach, Rodgers averaged 542 passing attempts a year. In three seasons as the Packers starter, Love has averaged 481.
Now, Rodgers never had Josh Jacobs as his running back, but the point stands: the NFL is a pass-first league now. If the Packers are to take the next step, the time has come for them to let Love lead them in the way the greats before him led.
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