Report: Rodgers ‘Truly Torn’ About Where He Wants to Play in 2022
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Has Aaron Rodgers played his last snap for the Green Bay Packers?
While retirement has been a distinct possibility throughout the offseason, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Friday night reported Rodgers is “truly torn” on where he wants to play in 2022. It’s the first time this offseason in which there are rumblings that Rodgers wants out of Green Bay, the team he’s led since 2008.
“He is going back and forth on where he wants to play,” Rapoport said.
After winning his fourth MVP at NFL Honors last month, Rodgers seemed to hint that the decision was between returning to the Packers and retiring.
“I think you’ve got to take some of the emotion out of it and then kind of lean into understanding what it takes to revamp and feel like what’s the best place, the best decision for me moving forward,” Rodgers said that night.
He quickly stopped himself.
“Not really place,” he continued. “More just what does it feel like to commit to a season if that’s what I want to do.”
From the Packers’ perspective, time is running short for Rodgers to decide what he wants to do. The deadline for the team to use the franchise tag on receiver Davante Adams is Tuesday. That’s a $20 million decision. Rodgers’ contract – whether it’s via retirement, trade or extension – is a primary pathway to paying for Adams and getting beneath the salary cap.
If Rodgers wants out, the Denver Broncos remain the most logical destination. Denver was interested in Rodgers last offseason, and it surely would be interested again with the addition of Nathaniel Hackett as head coach.
“We just want the best guy,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at the Scouting Combine. “We don’t care if it’s free agency, we don’t care if it’s the draft, we don’t care if it’s a trade. We’re going to exhaust all options to try to get the best guy for the Broncos.”
Denver’s returning quarterbacks are Drew Lock and Brett Rypien. Otherwise, the Broncos have a strong roster. The addition of Rodgers would make them an immediate contender, even in a loaded, quarterback-heavy AFC West.
“I think it’s always a priority. It’s the most important position in sports, so we’re always looking,” Paton said. “No stone unturned to find that guy. We know we need better play out of the quarterback position. So, we’re going to be aggressive.”
The Washington Commanders would be another logical destination. They reportedly made a “strong offer” to wrestle Russell Wilson away from the Seattle Seahawks.
“We feel we have canvassed the league effectively,” Commanders GM Martin Mayhew told reporters at the Scouting Combine. “We've spoken to every club that has a quarterback who might be available.”
Washington, however, is not on the dance card. Reportedly, it's Denver, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on Tuesday said, “Not a single person” among the league’s general managers and coaches had asked about Rodgers’ availability while at the Scouting Combine. But that was at midday Tuesday, so that doesn’t necessarily mean someone like Mayhew didn’t reach out to Gutekunst on the Friday before the Combine or on Friday night in Indianapolis.
If Rodgers is going to get traded, it’s going to have to come together quickly. The Packers and the acquiring team need to work out compensation. Moreover, the acquiring team would need to work out a contract extension with Rodgers; they’re not going to send the Packers a couple first-round picks for a one-year rental.
Trades cannot be made official until the start of the league-year at 3 p.m. on March 16. Even if a trade is agreed upon on Saturday, Rodgers’ contract would remain on the Packers’ books until the league-year starts. The Packers are about $32 million over the cap.
Or, perhaps this is a negotiating ploy by Rodgers to get something out of the Packers in an extension. That doesn’t necessarily mean additional dollars. The Packers are moving heaven and earth to get under the 2022 salary cap. Perhaps Rodgers would like the opportunity to leave next offseason if Gutekunst is forced to cut salary.
“You can only control what you can control, so you just try to make the best of it and try to have consistent communication,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday. “I told him, I don’t want to be overbearing and tell him every day how much we love him and how much we want him back. You just want to be respectful of his space and allow him to think through everything clearly without being annoying.”
