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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is coming off a very eventful offseason that included the reigning NFL MVP looking to be traded.
Rodgers, 37, was not happy that Green Bay traded up for fellow quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He also has some major issues with the team’s embattled front office, general manager Brian Gutekunst included.
Shortly after coming to an agreement with the Packers to play this season, reports broke that Rodgers has been given an opportunity to request a trade next spring. This came after the future Hall of Fame quarterback seriously contemplated retirement.
Rodgers recently said on the Dan Le Batard and Friends Podcast that he was “50/50” regarding whether to retire, as recently as the week before the Packers reported to camp. But on Wednesday, after Green Bay’s joint practice with the New York Jets, Rodgers spoke to reporters about what he envisioned for his 17th NFL season.
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“I don’t want a farewell tour,” Rodgers said Wednesday, via ESPN. “I don’t know what’s going to happen after the season, but I’m going to enjoy it with the right perspective, for sure, and not look at it as I’m getting through this. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of all of it.”
Rodgers felt that when the Packers selected quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, a proverbial clock started on the remainder of his time with the storied franchise.
“And I thought unless there was something in the season that really made me feel like I’m going to be here past 2021, that maybe this would be my last year,” he said. “I didn’t want to be going into a year with some sort of … as a lame duck, like I said. I didn’t think that was fair to what I accomplished and what I mean to this team, and nothing really changed in that regard. I went into the offseason, that (it) could have been it.”
Aaron Rodgers’ future with the Green Bay Packers
While the three-time NFL MVP didn’t clearly state that 2021 will be his final season in Green Bay, he came darn close. A lot of what happens with the Packers will depend heavily on how they perform starting Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints.
As they say, winning cures a lot of ills. A Super Bowl title would likely make Rodgers rethink his future with the Packers. Anything short of that, and it seems that this relationship is not repairable. Aaron Rodgers has made absolutely no bones about that in his comments to the media over the past several months.
As it stands, the nine-time Pro Bowl performer is coming off a brilliant 2020 campaign that saw him complete north of 70% of his passes for 4,299 yards with 48 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Short of him regressing big time, teams will be lining up to acquire the Canton-bound quarterback should he opt to move on from Green Bay after the 2021 season.
(Field Level Media contributed to this report)