Aaron Rodgers Has 1st Real Link to New Team
This time it may be real.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers intimated when the 2022 season ended that he wouldn’t hold his team hostage regarding his offseason decision to continue playing, retire, or seek a trade. That was two months ago.
Aaron Rodgers Has 1st Real Link to New Team
Rodgers recently conducted a “darkness isolation retreat” reportedly designed to provide clarity on the meaty career decision. And, for now, it appears the plan to seclude four days might’ve worked.
For the first time this offseason — and perhaps ever — Rodgers allegedly spoke with a non-Packers team about his future, the New York Jets. NFL analyst Trey Wingo tweeted Monday night, “Per sources. Aaron Rodgers and the Jets had conversations today. While nothing is imminent Rodgers is open to the idea of going to NY.”
And for sweetener, The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov offered some context, “The Packers allowing Rodgers to speak to the Jets would seem to confirm they’re ready to turn the page to Jordan Love. They just need to get the green light from Rodgers. Rodgers has always been Plan A for the Jets.”
Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021 before encountering a quiet-by-his-standards year in 2022. Green Bay finished 8-9, five games behind the Minnesota Vikings, and missed the postseason for the first time since 2018. The Packers even had a win-and-in Week 18 home game against the scrappy Detroit Lions — and lost. Following the defeat, the predictable offseason saga ensued, as Packers fans and the general NFL population wondered, for the third straight offseason, “what will Rodgers do?”
Fast forward to seven days before free agency, and the Packers + Rodgers appear content with a divorce that could land Rodgers in New York.
About three weeks ago, prominent Packers reporter Bob McGinn opined on the Rodgers ordeal, “As of right now, I’m convinced — based on my own instincts and knowing the NFL and knowing what happens after all these defeats and discussions with someone who has firsthand knowledge of this organization, of the Packers’ internal debates — that they are done with Rodgers.”
“That’s the way it is right now, that he’s not coming back. They’re disgusted with him, and they’re done with him, and they’re moving on. This is going to involve money and a trade partner and all kinds of things,” McGinn continued.
It seems McGinn’s reporting and prognostication may be correct.
Additionally, Rodgers seemed to predict this outcome on January 24th when he stated about a potential trade, “I’m open to all honest and direct conversations. If they (Green Bay) feel like it’s in the best interest of the team, so be it. That wouldn’t offend me. It wouldn’t make me feel like a victim. I wouldn’t have any animosity toward the team.”
Why would the Jets want Rodgers? Well, New York encountered a bumpy season at quarterback, vacillating between Zach Wilson and Mike White. Wilson, the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, played terribly. Then, with White in the saddle, the Jets improved, but he succumbed to injury. Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who enters Year 3 as skipper, may not have time to goof around with maybe solutions at QB1.
Rodgers is the anti-maybe solution.
If the trade culminates — the Packers will receive a king’s ransom for the quarterback who turns 40 in seven months — Rodgers will eerily follow in his predecessor’s footsteps, Brett Favre. Favre grew disgruntled with the Packers front office — and vice versa — in 2008 and ultimately left for the Jets. He played in New York for one season and became a Viking soon after.
The Rodgers trade, retirement, or one-more-ride-in-Green-Bay decision should hit within the next seven days. Jordan Love would presumably take over in Green Bay at quarterback if Rodgers does not return.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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