Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy spoke to reporters Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes.
Here are four takeaways:
Packers should learn soon whether they’re playing in Brazil next season
Murphy said the list of finalists to play the Philadelphia Eagles this season in the NFL’s first-ever game in Brazil is down to two: the Packers and Cleveland Browns.
Of the pair, it isn’t hard to envision the league preferring the Packers. It would be a prime matchup of two NFC contenders. Even more attractive, the league could carry one of its signature brands to South America. It would be a road game moved out of Philadelphia, so the Packers would not need to forfeit one of their nine home games at Lambeau Field this season, a nonstarter for the team.
Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy talks with the media at the NFL owners meeting in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday.
Murphy anticipates learning this week if the league will send his team to Brazil for what would be its 2024 opener, but he said there’s a significant hurdle to work through: getting a plane big enough to take them there out of Green Bay.
“We’re very supportive of international play,” Murphy said. “The one issue with Green Bay, though, is the size of our airport and the size of our runway. We want to make sure we’re not at a competitive disadvantage in terms of how long it will take us to get to Brazil. There’s some thought we might have to bus to Milwaukee and then fly.
“I anticipate probably within the week we’ll find out. So it’s either us or Cleveland, and if they choose us, we’ll welcome it. I think it would be exciting. It would be their first game ever in Brazil, and it would be exciting. But we want to make sure some of those things are worked out.”
Murphy said he anticipates the odds are likely “50-50” on whether the league will choose the Packers or Browns.
Mark Murphy says $80 million Lambeau investment on hold until talks resume
The Green Bay Packers are staying in Green Bay.
Mark Murphy made that clear Tuesday and he didn’t just mean through the remaining nine years left on their Lambeau Field lease. He didn’t just mean until the year 2043, which considers the five two-year options the Packers have to extend Lambeau Field as their home.
Even in the expansion era, the Packers have as much chance of leaving Green Bay as a snowball does in the central Florida sun. But Murphy said Green Bay mayor Eric Genrich’s decision to cease Lambeau Field lease negotiations has significant ramifications, leaving him “disappointed” with the city’s decision to walk away, especially at this point in time.
“Given the fact that they’ve walked away,” Murphy said, “we were going to go forward with $80 million in improvements in the stadium – mostly in the concourse and concession areas – that given the status of the negotiations, we’re going to halt those investments. So that’s going to affect our fans and also affect us for the draft.”
Genrich told the Green Bay Press-Gazette the Packers latest offer was “a material step back” from the current agreement, specifically noting annual payments from the organization to the city and how that money is allocated, as well as stadium availability for events unrelated to the Packers.
The Packers are adamant their current proposal is the best deal any city in the NFL has with its team. Murphy said the team has committed to putting $1.5 billion into the stadium, which will be invested through 2052. He added the Packers are asking for no public money with their stadium. Of the 19 stadiums built since 2000, only Gillette Stadium in New England, MetLife Stadium in New York and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles did not use public funding, according to the Buffalo News.
Murphy said the team has invested $600 million in the stadium, all of which has been paid since Brown County’s half-cent sales tax expired in 2015.
The Packers are hoping to extend their Lambeau Field lease through the 2062 season, 19 years behind what it currently has the option on to use the building built in 1958.
“It was disappointing,” Murphy said of the negotiations ending. “I got a call from the mayor that he was going to cease negotiations. We want – we’re going to stay in Green Bay. We’re going to work things out.”
Mark Murphy says ‘future is bright’ for Packers because Jordan Love is ‘pretty damn good’
A year ago, the Packers were facing an uncertain future preparing to trade Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets. Nobody knew what to expect from replacement Jordan Love. Murphy speculated last offseason it would take eight games to know what his team had in the new quarterback.
He wasn’t that far off.
“Obviously, when you beat the defending Super Bowl champions and the Super Bowl champions,” Murphy said, “the way he played against the (Kansas City) Chiefs was pretty eye opening for me.”
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love throws against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Packers beat the Chiefs in early December, their 12th game of the season. Only about a month after Murphy expected to get a read on Love. With Patrick Mahomes on the other sideline, Love threw for 267 yards, three touchdowns and a 118.6 passer rating. Mahomes threw for 210 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 79.1 rating in the loss.
That Love closed his first season as a starter leading the Packers to the NFC divisional round playoffs at San Francisco left no doubt to Murphy the team had its quarterback of the future.
“He was pretty damn good,” Murphy said. “Really happy for obviously Jordan, the way he played. Not only the level he played at, especially as the season got on. He just seemed to get more and more confident. But his leadership, we saw that throughout the offseason. We saw that throughout the offseason and certainly during the season. So we’re really, really pleased with the way he’s played, and I do think the future’s really bright.”
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Packers about to be ‘on the clock’ for hosting 2025 NFL draft
Preparations are about to ramp into full gear for the city of Green Bay hosting the NFL draft.
The Packers are almost one year away from hosting the 2025 draft, at which point Murphy expects to be full throttle in their planning. While the league had a presentation for next month’s draft in Detroit this week at the owners meetings, Murphy said Green Bay hosted NFL representatives last week.
“I think plans are going well,” Murphy said. “Once we get past Detroit, then I think things will really kick in. We’ll be on the clock, so to speak.”
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