CBS Sports Story Predicts Aaron Rodgers Will Retire after 2022

Is the former Cal star approaching his final year in the NFL, or will he be around for several more seasons?

Is it possible that former Cal star Aaron Rodgers will retire from pro football after the 2022 season? After he just signed a lucrative contract extension that runs at least through the 2024 season and possibly through 2026?

Well, before Rodgers announced in March that he will remain with the Packers for the 2022 season, he seriously considered retiring. Or at least that’s what he claims.

So Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports included this statement among his 10 bold NFL predictions for 2022: “Aaron Rodgers will retire after the season.”

It is No. 3 on La Canfora’s list that starts with the prediction that Russell Wilson will win the 2022 MVP and David Ajabo will have a monster season in 2023. And it comes just before a prediction that the Packers will trade Jordan Love.

Hmmm. It seems unlikely that the Packers would trade Love away if Rodgers retires but stranger things have happened.

Here is what La Canfora said about Rodgers and Love:

3. Aaron Rodgers will retire after the season

Green Bay won't be the same this season. He keeps losing more and more of his guys. Davante Adms is gone and his offensive line might be standing to look much different in 2023. Yes, walking away from another $60M guaranteed in 2023 sounds crazy to most of us. But I anticipate some real regression from this group and they will be in decline and this cat does his own thing and revels in it. Would it really be out of character to put the Packers through all this drama the last two offseasons just to hang it up in the middle of a new extension? And wouldn't it be even more quintessential Rodgers if he did it after 

4. Packers will trade Jordan Love

Someone will get desperate. This kid is going to want to play. He should get a chance to play. Sitting three years is ridiculous and someone is going to need a QB at some point due to injury, even if Jimmy Garoppolo and Baker Mayfield are dealt.

There is some logic here. The loss of Adams and Marquez Scantling-Valdes gives Rodgers fewer receiving weapons to work with, especially if second-round draft choice Christian Watson does not become a top-flight receiver in his rookie season. With Tom Brady still in the league, it may be more difficult for the Rodgers to reach the Super Bowl this season, and it will be difficult for Rodgers to match what he has done the past two seasons. He will be 39 years old by the end of the 2022 season, so presumably he will at least consider retiring.

The money left on the table? He has enough money to last him a lifetime. In many ways the contract numbers amount to a measure of a player’s worth in the player’s mind and don’t really represent what a player needs to survive in this world.

Having said all that, I can’t see Rodgers retiring after this season. His new contract has an out after the 2024 season, so retiring after that season would make some sense. But I believe Rodgers will stick around until he sees Watson become an elite wide receiver, which could come in 2023 or 2024. Rodgers seemed to put a lot of his backing behind the choice of Watson, so he may want to see it through.

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Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Jeff Hanisch, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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