Aaron Rodgers Speaks on His Future Again
Josh Frey
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Now that Tom Brady is officially retiring from the NFL, all eyes focus on Green Bay and the decision regarding QB1’s future. Will he retire? Will he continue to be a cheese head? Or, will he be traded?
Aaron Rodgers speaks weekly on The Pat McAfee Show, and on Tuesday, he once again discussed his future, and when we can expect a decision from him. Not much is certain when it comes to Rodgers, but in this latest interview with McAfee made one thing clear: don’t expect a decision from the four-time MVP prior to the Super Bowl.
“I haven’t been thinking about much of anything to be honest, and it’s been great,” the Packers quarterback said Tuesday from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “It’s going to be a little bit more time for my decision. I feel confident that in a couple weeks, I’ll feel definitely more strongly about one of two decisions.”
The 39-year-old QB also clarified that he won’t be able to make a final decision until following the season’s end, with Super Bowl LVII set to take place on Feb. 12.
“I can’t make a decision until after the Super Bowl at the earliest, because there’s still football going on,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers was drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and he has spent all 18 years of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers. His career began as a backup to Brett Favre, but when Favre left the team to go play for the New York Jets, Rodgers became the full-time starter in 2008.
Throughout his career, Rodgers has won four MVPs (2011, 2014, 2020, 2021) and a Super Bowl with the Packers in the 2010 season. He’s been a Pro Bowler 10 times, and 2022 was the first time that he missed the Pro Bowl despite starting 10+ games since that 2010 Super Bowl year.
It’s for good reason that he missed the Pro Bowl this year. Again, among seasons where Rodgers played 10+ games, 2022 held a career-low in passing yards, his second-lowest passing TD total, and his second-highest interception total.
In all, through 18 seasons, Rodgers has completed 65.3% of his passes for 59,055 yards (ninth-most all-time), 475 touchdowns (fifth-most all-time), and 105 interceptions (114th-most all-time).
It’s been a legendary career for the long-time Packers QB, but fans across the NFC North would be very happy to see him leave if that’s how this offseason were to play out. Funny enough, one of the favorites to land Rodgers in a trade are the same New York Jets that Favre eventually left Green Bay for.
The Jets have plenty of draft compensation over the next few years to send to Green Bay in exchange for the 39-year-old QB, and overall, the young talent on their roster is some of the best in the entire NFL. WR Garrett Wilson and CB Sauce Gardner are in the running for Rookie of the Year awards on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and if RB Breece Hall hadn’t gotten hurt midway through the season, one would have to assume he’d be up there as well.
Behind Rodgers, Green Bay has another budding QB in Jordan Love, who in limited time, has played well for the Packers. With 2023 set to be the final year of his contract (unless the Packers give him the fifth-year option), Green Bay may want to see what they have in their latest first-round pick quarterback.
If the Packers were to part ways with Rodgers, it would further tip the balance of QB power in the favor of the AFC. With Brady already out of the conference, there’s an argument to be made that each of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL already reside in the AFC in Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Lamar Jackson. This doesn’t even include guys like Russell Wilson, or a budding star in Trevor Lawrence.
Overall, this is shaping up to be a fascinating offseason for the quarterback position, and Rodgers is the biggest domino of them all. Once his final decision is made, expect the QB moves to come fast and furious.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.