In perhaps the latest sign that the offseason is around the corner, we’re starting to get reports of star players making living decisions and how it could potentially impact their future with their current organizations. Most recently, the spotlight has turned to Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Already speculated to possibly be on the move this offseason thanks to last year’s preseason drama, in addition to the Packers being roughly $50 million over the cap entering the offseason, while needing to retain Davante Adams and several others, some signs have suggested these complications could cause Rodgers to beg for a ticket out of town.
Especially if the Packers have to undergo major roster changes, undergoing a rebuild, which AR12 has stated he wants no part of. There has been no shortage of teams already linked to Rodgers, and likely plenty more on the way if he were to become available, but one non-football move could already be pointing to a specific location.
According to Jared Stillman of 102.5 The Game, which is a Nashville radio station, Rodgers has recently purchased a plot of land in Tennessee. Specifically, Rodgers is building a home in a suburb of Nashville.
He even claims to have a source who says “Rodgers is open to joining the Titans“, while adding some of his current teammates in Green Bay don’t expect him back with the team.
Is Music City calling Aaron Rodgers’ name?
While Tennessee, and Nashville specifically is an attractive place to live, this doesn’t necessarily mean much. Aaron Rodgers is 38 years old. If he wants to settle down out in Nashville during his off-time, who can blame him?
Nobody knows how much longer he wants to play. Tom Brady surprised all of us by retiring at the ripe age of 44 after telling everyone 45 was the number for so many years. Rodgers may or may not have a specific plan, and even then, it could change quickly.
It probably hasn’t helped being around coach Matt LaFleur the past two seasons. LaFleur spent a season with the Titans in 2018 as their offensive coordinator. It’s not hard to imagine LaFleur gloating about his time there, possibly directly impacting Rodgers and his future dreams.
Rodgers may very well be growing tired of the same old thing after 17 years in Green Bay. What we do know, is there’s been plenty of drama and uncertainty coming from Rodgers each of the past few seasons, maybe a move to Nashville is a precursor of things to come with his football career too, or maybe it’s just a dude living his life.
Does an Aaron Rodgers trade to the Tennessee Titans make sense?
Well, now we’re getting somewhere. Of course, from a football perspective, Aaron Rodgers becoming a Tennessee Titan makes sense for everyone involved. If the Packers are faced with an ultimatum to trade their franchise quarterback who has won four MVP awards (2021-22 announced Feb. 10), sending him to an AFC team they don’t have to get past in the playoffs makes the most sense.
For Rodgers, going to the No. 1 seeded AFC team makes sense too. Arguably the weakest link on the Titans’ offense is the QB position. Ryan Tannehill is a serviceable vet who belongs as a starting quarterback, but he’s never won a Super Bowl like Rodgers has. Tannehill is also coming off a three-interception playoff performance that got the Titans kicked out after one game.
If his contract situation wasn’t so convoluted, we may be hearing of more smoke about the Titans looking to move on from Tannehill this offseason, but if the Titans traded him before June 1, they’d suffer a cap hit of $28.4 million. Few teams are likely leaping at adding his base salary to their cap sheet either.
This makes a Tannehill trade extremely tough to do. Unless, the Titans knew they could replace him with a definite improvement, they likely wouldn’t be willing to eat any salary or incentivize another team to take on his contract. However, if the Packers are strongarmed by Rodgers saying he wants to go to Tennessee, they might not have much of a choice.
Maybe, internally they don’t feel like Jordan Love is ready yet, or maybe they like the idea of having an experienced veteran with mobility like Tannehill on hand in case things go awry, much like what the Titans did, when they had Marcus Mariota and decided to add Tannehill. That’s a lot of hypotheticals, but crazier things have happened. At least Rodgers would be able to find plenty of scotch in Nashville, for him, that has to be seen as a bonus.
