It’s Time to Stop Dreaming of an Aaron Rodgers, Packers Breakup
Josh Frey
|
The past couple NFL off-seasons have been rather tumultuous for the Green Bay Packers, to say the least. It all started in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft when the Packers selected QB Jordan Love. Their front office can deny it all they want, but it was clear at the time that Love was meant to be the heir to quarterback throne in Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were coming off a 2019 season in which they went 13-3 but were dominated in the NFC Championship Game by the San Francisco 49ers. Rodgers had a “down year” as well, at least by his standards.
Since that time, the rumors have been flying that Rodgers would eventually leave Green Bay, and it all culminated in the 2021 offseason where, right before the draft began, Adam Schefter reported that Rodgers wanted to leave the Packers. A flurry of trade proposals and jersey-swaps on social media happened, but the breakup still has not occured.
And now in summer 2022, it’s time for Minnesota Vikings fans to stop dreaming of it.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1029248″ player=”26281″ title=”WATCH%20Aaron%20Rodgers%20plans%20on%20retiring%20with%20the%20Green%20Bay%20Packers” duration=”95″ description=”What a difference several months make in the NFL world. It wasn’t too long ago that Aaron Rodgers had requested for the Green Bay Packers to trade him.Fresh off signing the richest contract in NFL history, the two-time reigning league MVP has changed his tune big time.” uploaddate=”2022-06-09″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/1029075/1029075.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
This offseason, the 38-year-old Rodgers signed a three-year, $150.8 million contract, putting him under contract with Green Bay through 2026. He will be 43 years old during that season. Despite Rodgers winning back-to-back MVPs over the past two seasons, it’s hard to imagine a team trading for him at that price, especially in the later years of that contract.
On top of that, Rodgers made some comments on the matter earlier this week that should officially put the jersey swaps to rest. While the veteran QB does not know how much longer he will play in the NFL, it’s clear that he wants to remain in a green and gold uniform for the duration of those years. Any feud he had with the Packers front office since then seems dead, and on Tuesday he confirmed as much to The Athletic.
“When I said I’m back, I’m 100 percent invested, and Matt (LaFleur) and I keep in touch all the time, and Tom and the young quarterbacks, and when I’m here, I’m all in, and those guys know that. They know what to expect from me, the type of play, the type of leadership, and that’s what they’re going to get.”
Rodgers has played with a chip on his shoulder over the past two seasons, and the Vikings have felt the brunt of that. In four games against Minnesota since 2020, he has thrown for 1328 yards, 13 TDs, and 0 INTs. 2022 will bring more of the same, and it seems that future years will as well. That is, as Rodgers put it, “unless they trade me”. Sorry Vikings fans, I don’t see that happening.
