Former Broncos QB Jake Plummer Offers Advice to Aaron Rodgers Amid Trade Demands: 'Make it Happen'
As the NFL summer stretches into July, the Aaron Rodgers saga in Green Bay has yet to reach its terminus. Despite the reigning NFL MVP's demands to be traded, the Packers have been unrelenting on the subject of trading him.
Last Friday, all eyes were on the NFL's deadline that allowed players to opt-out of the 2021 season for pandemic-related concerns. Rodgers could have opted out and removed himself permanently from the 2021 board, which would have kicked his can of disgruntlement down the road, but he didn't.
The takeaway? Rodgers wants to play in 2021 — just not for the Packers. The Denver Broncos — reportedly — are high on the MVP's list.
KOA's Benjamin Allbright has reported back in mid-June that when it comes to trade destinations, Rodgers wants "wants to be" in Denver. Nevertheless, the Packers have been undaunted as the offseason has stretched on, pursuing what life with the second-year QB Jordan Love might look like as Rodgers has skipped all team activities.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill continues to crank out nuggets tying the Broncos to Rodgers continue to mount, with ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently reporting that GM George Paton continues to "monitor" the situation.
This sets the stage for former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who's making the media rounds to promote a new film he's starring in titled Kick, which sees the long-time NFL signal-caller portray a fictitious CFL QB. Among these media rounds, Plummer talked with USA TODAY's Packers Wire, which unsurprisingly broached the Rodgers trade topic.
“I was told early on in my career, when you go through the rankings of an organization, especially an NFL organization, the owner is the most important and then people think the head coach, but usually it’s the quarterback that’s either two or three right with the GM,” Plummer said. “So a QB holds a lot of power and I think the players don’t have a lot of power in this league. And he’s kind of asserting himself saying, ‘Hey, why should I be forced to play on a team that I don’t want to play for?’
“Now, it comes off as an arrogant, spoiled, narcissistic athlete, but, I mean, we only get so long to do this, [to] play this game. So [with] the beating we put ourselves through, I think it’s only appropriate that a guy who’s one of the greatest to ever play the game, I mean – make it work. Make it work for yourself, make it the right fit. However that is, make it happen because I sorely would miss him slinging the ball around. He’s fun to watch play.”
Indeed, the NFL would be worse off without Rodgers suiting up on Sundays this fall. It's hard to imagine that he won't play at all, and, frankly, it's difficult to envision him suiting up for any team other than the Packers.
But Rodgers has been stubborn in his demands and has spoken loud and clear with his actions by A.) not showing up to any Green Bay OTA workout and B.) trading salvos in the press. With Rodgers telling Kenny Mayne, formerly of ESPN, that his issue with Green Bay is "about philosophy, character, culture, and doing things the right way" back in May, Packers team president Mark Murphy responded in kind in June that Rodgers is a "complicated fella."
Here's what Rodgers told Mayne:
“With my situation, look, it’s never been about the draft pick, picking Jordan [Love],” Rodgers said in regards to Green Bay's decision to invest a first-rounder in a QB amid the team's still-open championship window. “It’s just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make the thing go. It’s about character, it’s about culture, it’s about doing things the right way.”
Rumors abound that if Rodgers is to be traded, it can't be any later than the end of July, because that's when NFL training camps start. Only time will tell how that issue resolves.
As for the Broncos, all Paton and company can do is focus on the QBs that are currently under contract, which includes Drew Lock, Teddy Bridgewater, and Brett Rypien. Lock and Bridgewater are set to continue facing off in a 50-50 competition for the starting job when training camp begins July 28.
However, if Paton ever gets the green light from Murphy and Packers GM Brian Gutekunst, let's just say that there will at least be a conversation about what it would take to get Rodgers to the Mile High City.
“I’m told from the Broncos perspective that yes, they are monitoring Rodgers and whatever situation might be out there with quarterbacks, but they like their current set up,” Fowler said, via 247Sports. “They like Drew Lock and believe he’s a different guy this year with his work ethic. And they like Teddy Bridgewater. They believe he can win games too. They’ll look into Rodgers if he’s available, he’s not, so they’re certainly not going to overreact right now.”
Plummer is no stranger to QB drama and what it's like to fall out of favor with a team's brass. After leading the Broncos to three straight playoff appearances from 2003-05, culminating in a home AFC Championship Game loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, then-head coach Mike Shanahan unceremoniously took Jay Cutler out of Vanderbilt in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft.
Although Plummer fended Cutler off early on, at the first crack in the veneer, Shanahan benched the veteran for the rookie down the stretch, despite the Broncos being in first place in the AFC West at the time. Cutler would go on to lead the Broncos out of the playoff hunt while Plummer was traded (very much against his will) to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers the following offseason where he promptly retired.
Plummer's fallout in Denver isn't a perfect apples-to-apples analogy for Rodgers and Green Bay but the prospective movie star knows what's he's talking about when it comes to the inner workings of the QB-team dynamic and playing-career longevity. Plummer's advice to the aspiring game show host comes with its fair share of wisdom. Rodgers seems to be already taking heed as he begins his third month of trying to indeed strong-arm his way out of Green Bay and, as Plummer said, "make it work" for himself.
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