Who Will Aaron Rodgers Play For In 2023 (Or Will He Play)?

[run pMc]

can't remember the source, but I though it was his agent that let the brass know

Gotcha.
So I see APC posted an article that the Jets are officially interested, according to Fowler at ESPN.
https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2...s-trade-rumors

What else we know:
Folwer's report comes after Rappaport previously reported that multiple teams have already inquired.
Rappaport and Pelissero have also reported that the Packers are willing to trade Rodgers if he requests a change of scenery.
Gute has said at least twice that the team wanted Rodgers to be on the squad next season.
Rodgers has said he wouldn't want to come back to GB if they are rebuilding, although what "rebuilding" means is not clear. (It's Rodgers and his wordsmithing after all.) It is likely tied to keeping certain players and coaches around.
Rodgers has also said that players who would potentially influence his retirement decision would be Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan and David Bakhtiari.

Yes, there is a lot of "conjecture" at the moment, but where there's smoke there's fire.
The next few weeks will be interesting; Rodgers has said he will make a decision before Mar 15, I expect a lot more rumors and conjecture until something actually does happen.

FWIW, I don't think he's retiring. I just don't know if he's playing for GB. He probably doesn't either, not yet anyway.

[Fritz]

Gotcha.
So I see APC posted an article that the Jets are officially interested, according to Fowler at ESPN.
https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2...s-trade-rumors

What else we know:
Folwer's report comes after Rappaport previously reported that multiple teams have already inquired.
Rappaport and Pelissero have also reported that the Packers are willing to trade Rodgers if he requests a change of scenery.
Gute has said at least twice that the team wanted Rodgers to be on the squad next season.
Rodgers has said he wouldn't want to come back to GB if they are rebuilding, although what "rebuilding" means is not clear. (It's Rodgers and his wordsmithing after all.) It is likely tied to keeping certain players and coaches around.
Rodgers has also said that players who would potentially influence his retirement decision would be Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan and David Bakhtiari.

Yes, there is a lot of "conjecture" at the moment, but where there's smoke there's fire.
The next few weeks will be interesting; Rodgers has said he will make a decision before Mar 15, I expect a lot more rumors and conjecture until something actually does happen.

FWIW, I don't think he's retiring. I just don't know if he's playing for GB. He probably doesn't either, not yet anyway.

I've been wondering why all this talk of trading Rodgers - as in, who really wants that? Gutekunst has spoken twice publicly and both times said the big contract extension was meant for more than just one year with Green Bay. The Flower has also said he wants Rodgers back. And Rodgers has said he'd like to retire a Packer. So what's happening that now a trade is being bandied about?

Most likely, the bolded above - Rodgers wants to have some of his buddies back on the team - is what's changed. He phrased it as not wanting to be part of a rebuild, but he was specific about which guys he wants back. Don't know if he wants/needs them ALL back or at least a couple, or what, but now he's decided he wants to retire a Packer IF they re-sign at least some of "his" guys. And maybe part of it is that the team is now seeing they're further away from an SB than they thought a year ago?

Just like last year, it's gotten really weird.

I can't imagine Rodgers wanting or being willing to go to NY, and it sure sounds like the Packers absolutely will not trade Rodgers to an NFC team, so I would think, if they're going to trade him, they will try to use the Jets' interest to drive the price up and hope Rodgers doesn't say anything about not wanting to go to NY. Raiders still seem the most likely landing spot, if their GM wants to play ball.

At this point, I'd take one first round pick for Rodgers. Maybe even a second and a third (well, okay, a third round pick is useless for Green Bay).

Be funny if he announced his retirement after all this. But I don't think that'll happen.

[NewsBruin]

I've been wondering why all this talk of trading Rodgers - as in, who really wants that? Gutekunst has spoken twice publicly and both times said the big contract extension was meant for more than just one year with Green Bay. The Flower has also said he wants Rodgers back. And Rodgers has said he'd like to retire a Packer. So what's happening that now a trade is being bandied about?

I think the Packers front office has to keep up Rodgers' appearance as a tradable asset. That means they can't alienate him and cause him to pout or rage-quit. They have to make Rodgers' return to the Packers look plausible so they're not weighing whose seventh-rounder to take in exchange.

As for Rodgers, he doesn't want to look like the bad guy. So I'd expect him to reply, "If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to rock the boat. I just wish I could stay here and have all my best friends and nobody ever doubting me."

[Fritz]

I think the Packers front office has to keep up Rodgers' appearance as a tradable asset. That means they can't alienate him and cause him to pout or rage-quit. They have to make Rodgers' return to the Packers look plausible so they're not weighing whose seventh-rounder to take in exchange.

As for Rodgers, he doesn't want to look like the bad guy. So I'd expect him to reply, "If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to rock the boat. I just wish I could stay here and have all my best friends and nobody ever doubting me."

I think that's all true, but I don't think it quite answers my original question: so does anybody really want a trade? If so, who is it and for what reason or reasons? Is it Rodgers? The Packers? Both? Neither?

[Joemailman]

I think that's all true, but I don't think it quite answers my original question: so does anybody really want a trade? If so, who is it and for what reason or reasons? Is it Rodgers? The Packers? Both? Neither?

I think the Packers would like a trade, but don't want it to look like they ran Rodgers out of town. They want it to look like it was his idea. Who knows what Rodgers wants? My guess is he is leaning in a certain direction, but is still open to a change of mind. And so we wait a little bit as he emerges from the darkness into a great light. I think Isaiah wrote something like that.

[NewsBruin]

I think that's all true, but I don't think it quite answers my original question: so does anybody really want a trade? If so, who is it and for what reason or reasons? Is it Rodgers? The Packers? Both? Neither?

I think this is the front office changing course after going all-in to Rodgers' requests (as opposed to going all-in to win a Super Bowl) and seeing what it got them. Shorten his contract, hire some veteran favorites, never publicly disparage him or reply to his passive-aggressive shots, throw in extra millions to massage his feelings going back to not getting a power D-1 offer out of high school. And they saw what that ceiling was.

It's an enviable ceiling, but the PR hits, the physical wear to Rodgers, and his reversion to bad habits maybe makes them rethink whether it's worth the salary-cap hit and the burning of Jordan Love's R1 pick. Maybe they think the organization's reputation won't take as much of hit if they trade Rodgers and start Love, compared to that scenario last year.