The Aaron Rodgers situation deteriorated remarkably fast in Green Bay. Things seemed just fine going into April 2020. He’d just gotten the Packers back to the NFC championship. He was starting to have fun again. Everything was looking up. Then the Packers decided it was a good idea to draft Jordan Love in the 1st round. They didn’t realize at the time how far-reaching the consequences of that moment would be.
After winning his third MVP award that season and taking them to another NFC championship, Rodgers poured ice water on the Packers’ good vibes. It was revealed right before the draft, the one-year anniversary of the Love pick, that he wasn’t planning to return to the team. Just like that, Green Bay’s plans to pursue a Super Bowl in 2021 were put on life support.
Experts had a hard time believing Rodgers would do this.
Many felt it was just a plot for more attention. Namely, a push for the team to give him a significant pay raise. Rodgers is currently making an average of $33.5 million per year. That ties him for the fifth-highest paid QB in the league. After a third MVP run, it’s easy to understand why he thinks he deserves more. However, it is clearer than ever this situation was never about the money. NFL insider Benjamin Allbright of KOA NewsRadio proved that much with this revelation.
I think it's a legitimate coin flip.
From the people I've talked to, Rodgers isn't budging off his stance and it isn't about money, as he has declined an offer from the Packers already that would have paid him $40+mil per. https://t.co/qsapjfFmod
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) June 7, 2021
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If true, that probably would’ve made Rodgers the second-highest-paid QB in the league. Dak Prescott makes $40 million per year at #2. Only Patrick Mahomes is ahead of him at $45 million. Rodgers likely would’ve nestled somewhere in between them. Turning such a deal down considering he’s 38-years old and no QB that age normally gets such offers? That tells you all you need to know.
Aaron Rodgers doesn’t seem to be messing around
Allbright isn’t the only prominent insider to be making such stark revelations. He spoke to Rob Demovsky of ESPN on his podcast shortly after tweeting that. It was there the Packers beat writer doubled down on what he said last week to Kap & J. Hood in Chicago. Everything he’s heard and he’s feeling says that Rodgers played his last snap in Green Bay that fateful day back in January.
“My gut is he [Rodgers] just doesn’t ever play for the #Packers again.”
PODCAST: @RobDemovsky joined @redwardsradio and @AllbrightNFL with the latest report on Aaron Rodgers missing #Packers offseason training.
LISTEN on @KOAColorado: https://t.co/9oDxfMo0sT
— KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (@KOAColorado) June 8, 2021
Chicago Bears fans among many others just can believe something like this is happening. After so many years of Aaron Rodgers haunting their dreams, it feels like the nightmare is coming to an end. So abruptly too. This isn’t the way anybody thought it would go. Rodgers looked like he could play well into his 40s. He may still. Just not for the Packers.
Nobody is sure how this is going to the end.
Based on the situation? There are three possibilities. He caves in and returns to Green Bay. He gets traded to another team or he retires. Given how unlikely the former seems right now, the other two are the only routes remaining. Would the Packers dare trade him? It doesn’t seem likely at this point. So it comes down to whether Rodgers is willing to sit out.