Aaron Rodgers was the 24 th overall draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2005. He started out as the backup quarterback behind Brett Favre. He did not get much game play his rookie year but ran the scout team during practice. Nobody missed Rodgers’ dedication to being a better player. Some teammates complained that Rodgers practiced too much.
Even though Rodgers has been with Green Bay for 16 years, and subsequently signed a five-year contract in 2018 worth $134 million, he said he may not return to the team. In late April, Rodgers announced that he does not want to return to the team.
Rumors are he is disgruntled because he feels disrespected by general manager Brian Gutekunst. Not only did Gutekunst draft quarterback Jordan Lowe in 2020, he did so without communicating his intentions to Rodgers.
On February 21, 2020, Gutekunst said he was open to the idea of drafting a quarterback in the first round of draft picks. As if that was not enough sting on Rodgers, Gutekunst added to the pain with some comments to a few reporters when one asked if that decision would have an impact on Rodgers.
“Aaron wants to win, and I think that’s the most important thing to him,” Gutekunst said in the inteview “He knows we’re trying to make the best decision for the football team going forward. So, I don’t worry about that, but I’m not -- with all players -- you can’t control that. Players get happy and sad about all kinds of things. So, I’m not too concerned about that.”
With Rodgers coming off his third MVP season, the power has shifted back to the quarterback. Rodgers said he still has much to prove.
“I want to go out and prove that I’m still an elite player in this league, and if I do that then I’ll feel good,” Rodgers said in an interview. “I’ve got the opportunity to finish my career in Green Bay, but I’m definitely not arrogant in the mindset that it would never happen to me. It happened to [Brett Favre], it can happen to any of us.”
Since Rodgers inked a deal with the Packers back in 2018, they would have to trade him to another team. The issue with that idea is not if another team would take him, there are plenty chomping at the bit to sign him. Green Bay has no intentions of letting him go.
Gutekunst made that clear in an interview with ESPN.
“As we’ve stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond,” Gutekunst said in an interview with ESPN. “Aaron has been a vital part of our success and we look forward to competing for another championship with him leading our team.”
The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams both sniffed around the possibility of taking Rodgers off of the Packers’ hands. However, they both fell short because the Packers have no intentions of trading Rodgers.
San Francisco’s General Manager John Lynch said he called about Rodgers’ potential availability but was quickly turned down. The Packers are not ready to give up a three-time MVP player .
“You’re talking about the MVP of our league last year,” Lynch said in an interview. “Yeah, we inquired. It was a quick into the conversation (but) it wasn’t happening. As we said, we have been convicted and excited for a long, long time, so we went right back to where we’ve been and that’s really excited about adding Trey Lance to the 49ers, and we’re thrilled about that.”
The Rams inquiry was also quickly dismissed by the Packers, so they traded Matthew Stafford after being with the Detroit Lions for many years.
Sources told ESPN that the Packers have offered to extend Rodgers’ contract. Only the future knows that Rodgers will do. There is a team folklore that no Packers’ quarterback has played 17 seasons with Green Bay. Bart Starr played 16 years from 1956 to 1971, Brett Favre was quarterback from 1992 to 2007, and Rodgers has been with the team since 2005.