The Green Bay Packers have played the roles of firemen for the past few months in the wake of news breaking that Aaron Rodgers planned not to return to the team. This over a dispute with current GM Brian Gutekunst and his handling of the team. Most agree the rift began when the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the 1st round last year. This while failing to give him a heads up it was even happening. To say nothing of their decision to hire Matt Lafleur as head coach without consulting him as well.
It is clear enough Rodgers hates the current regime. Enough to where some believe he is willing to sit at home unless the team either trades him or fires Gutekunst. Thus far the Packers have been steadfast in their stance. They aren’t doing either. So Rodgers can either return to the team or stay at home and get fined. The fact the quarterback missed Organized Team Activities for the first time in his career wasn’t a great start to mending the relationship.
Things don’t seem to be getting better either.
Team president Mark Murphy recently held a brief Q&A with Packer fans. He covered the hot topics of late like trading for Julio Jones and the progress of Jordan Love. Yet the way Rodgers came up was easily the weirdest. Not only was it totally unprompted based on the question (or comment in this case), but his word usage was more than a little interesting.
A fan named Ken writes to Murphy: “You have done a great job. Don’t let the bastards drag you down. Washington needs a name. I suggest the Generals.”
Here’s the non-sequitur from Murphy. (Unless, of course, Murphy regards Rodgers as one of the “bastards” who may be dragging Murphy down.)
“Thanks, Ken,” Murphy writes. “The situation we face with Aaron Rodgers has divided our fan base. The emails and letters that I’ve received reflect this fact. As I wrote here last month, we remain committed to resolving things with Aaron and want him to be our quarterback in 2021 and beyond. We are working to resolve the situation and realize that the less both sides say publicly, the better.”
It certainly looks like despite the careful language Murphy is playing the political game here. He is trying to position the Packers as the victim in all of this. Rodgers is the one causing the problems. This was further reinforced when Murphy threw his full-throated support behind Gutekunst as GM. A clear sign the organization has no plans to acquiesce to Rodgers’ reported desires for him to be fired. Probably also something that won’t help matters.
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Aaron Rodgers situation isn’t just dividing the fans
The locker room doesn’t appear too happy about it either. All five of the Packers’ top wide receivers including star Davante Adams have sat out practices. A clear show of solidarity in support of their quarterback. One can imagine there are other players on the team who feel the same way. That management is risking the possibility of competing for a Super Bowl by not keeping their all-time great quarterback happy.
As far as Aaron Rodgers himself? He’s been completely silent since his interview with ESPN a couple of weeks ago. There are zero signs of his position having changed. Team insider Rob Demovsky indicated his belief the 38-year old likely won’t be coming back. He is “too dug in” at this point. He certainly doesn’t lack leverage. Money? Nope. Lack of a ring? Nope. Hall of Fame hopes? Nope. The truth is the only reason Rodgers is still playing is that he wants to.
Green Bay is now poking at that desire.
Usually, when that happens, a player becomes more and more okay with the idea of retirement. Rodgers doesn’t look unhappy living it up in Hawaii. He certainly has a ton of career prospects after football. Hosting Jeopardy being just one of them. He doesn’t need the Packers anymore. The Packers need him. Given the way things are going, this is not going to end well for them.