Packers President Mark Murphy: Aaron Rodgers is a 'Complicated Fella'
Last week, Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy wrote on the team website that the club's current rift with MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers has "divided" the fan base. Murphy went on to write that the less both sides say publicly, the better, despite his quip coming in a mailbag in response to a fan question the executive was under no obligation to answer.
Fast forward to present times, and Murphy has once again stepped in it. During an event at Lambeau Field, Murphy fired yet another shot across Rodgers' bow in a very public forum.
"I'm often reminded though... of Ted Thompson, as most of you know, just a great general manager, passed away (earlier this year)," Murphy said on Thursday via NBC26. "(Thompson) often talked about Aaron, that he's a... and it wasn't just Aaron, a lot of different players. He would say 'He's a complicated fella.'"
"So, I'll just say that," Murphy said.
Perhaps it's just another log on a blaze that has jumped the highway, fully combusting into a raging wildfire, but the wisdom of Murphy's latest remark on the Rodgers front seems unwise. Rodgers' last comment on the issue publicly came in the final week of May in a funny sit-down with ESPN's Kenny Mayne on the veteran journalist's final 'Mayne Event' on SportsCenter.
“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.”
Rodgers is yet to show up to Packers OTAs. Meanwhile, Jordan Love has generated his own headlines with superb play in OTAs, leading to the purported notion that Green Bay is perfectly content to start the second-year QB in 2021 if Rodgers doesn't come back to the table.
The Packers have reportedly made a sizable contractual offer to Rodgers, which the nine-time Pro Bowler has yet to accept. Considering that distinction, and the three-time MVP's remarks to Mayne, it genuinely doesn't feel like money is the root issue here.
Because money isn't the rub, a fat contract, regardless of how big it is, likely won't bridge the gap between Rodgers and the Packers. With the month of June nearly half over, any NFL suitors — like perhaps the Denver Broncos — are running out of time to make a trade move for him.
If Rodgers' hold-out continues beyond June and well into July, potential trade suitors won't have the plausible time to get him, the offensive coordinator, and the supporting cast, on the same page in time for the season opener. If July rolls around and the situation hasn't budged, it would point to Rodgers holding true to his threat of sitting out the 2021 campaign if the Packers aren't willing to trade him.
Meanwhile, Murphy continuing to blab about Rodgers any time a keyboard or microphone gets put in front of him is bad business for a Packers team that purports to want to mend fences with its future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.
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