Is Rodgers Pushing Gutekunst To Sign Matthews?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Is Aaron Rodgers, who got his wish with the Green Bay Packers’ acquisition of his good friend Randall Cobb, now pushing for the team to bring back Clay Matthews?

On Instagram on Friday night, Rodgers posted a picture of Matthews with the words “Bring Him Back.” He was joined by Cobb, who made the original post, and left tackle David Bakhtiari.

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— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 14, 2021

A few things are true. One, Cobb and Matthews were among 12 players Rodgers listed as “guys who were exceptional players for us but great locker-room guys, high-character guys, many of them who weren’t offered a contract at all or were extremely low-balled or were in my opinion not given the respect on the way out that guys of their status and stature and high character deserved.”

Two, general manager Brian Gutekunst has said he’d be more open to Rodgers’ personnel opinions. The sixth-round pick given up for Cobb, even with the third-round selection of Amari Rodgers to play the role of slot receiver, shows that Gutekunst is willing to do more than listen as a way to mend their fractured relationship.

Three, the Packers have been hit hard by injuries at outside linebacker. With Randy Ramsey going on injured reserve this week, the Packers don’t have a clear-cut No. 4 outside linebacker. Considering Za’Darius Smith gets a lot of pass-rushing snaps from the middle of the defense, there could be a role for Matthews, who is a free agent and did not play last season.

So, those Instagram stories could be three respected veterans making a play for Matthews.

Then again, maybe Rodgers and Co. were merely having some fun at everyone’s expense. As Davante Adams said of the “Last Dance” photos that he and Rodgers posted shortly before Rodgers returned to Green Bay, “It was just a post at the end of the day. If we want to mess with you guys every now and then, we have the right to do that.”

The Los Angeles Rams released Matthews in March 2020. He had eight sacks in 13 games for the Rams in 2019. First-year Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry was on that staff, though Barry coached the inside linebackers.

A first-round pick by Green Bay in 2009, he had 83.5 sacks in 10 seasons. Officially, he is the Packers’ all-time leader in sacks; unofficially, he ranks No. 2 all-tim e. He turned 35 in May.

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