Report: Aaron Rodgers wants the Packers to fire G.M. Brian Gutekunst

[texaspackerbacker]

I hope your last paragraph is correct. I think probably it is.

[RashanGary]

Here's my take:

I think there's blame on both sides. On the one hand, I think the Packers have botched this pretty badly. To me, it began with Gutekunst not realizing that a phone call to your all-time-great (and egosensitive) quarterback before you traded up to pick a QB in the first round might be a good idea. All Gutekunst had to say was "Aaron, we're in a bit of a bind. We're about to be on the clock, no one will trade down, and the only guy left with a first-round grade is a QB we'd have to trade up to get. So we're going to do it, but please know you are, and will be, our guy going forward. We'll have about four years to see what we've got with this guy, and he'll be your back-up for at least the next three years. And just to show you our commitment, I promise we'll work out an extension with you. We can always trade this kid if he looks good, and if - God forbid - something happens to you, we've got a QB. But we are committed to you for the next three years, and maybe beyond depending on circumstances." That likely would've done the trick.

Gute was also tone-deaf with the Kumerow situation. Your superstar QB just went out of his way to publicly praise a fourth-string wide receiver - and you cut the guy 48 hours later. Really? You couldn't keep a bottom-of-the-roster guy so your QB would feel he's being heard? You don't have to do everything Rodgers wants, but you better at least listen to him. Finally, as a long-time union guy, I don't agree with the common "just shut up and do your job and if you're good you'll be rewarded" mentality that so many Rats seem to believe. People seem to forget that teams use these guys like meat, and spit them out when the player's usefulness if over. And don't give me that "well they don't have to play" crap. That's like saying if you don't like credit cards, you can just use cash. Yeah, right.

On the other hand, Rodgers is one passive-aggressive son of a bitch. No reason he couldn't have called Gutekunst and asked what the hell was up with the Love pick, or gone to Gutes privately to point out that cutting Kumerow after Rodgers had praised him made Rodgers look a bit like a bit player. Dropping that bomb on draft day was a clear revenge move, and his unwillingness to own up to what he's doing is or should be embarrassing. He's not a stand-up guy, in my opinion. He's very, very sensitive, and while that chip on his shoulder can drive him to greatness, it also makes him an arrogant jackass, though I often wonder if these guys - pampered and told how great they are every day - could ever turn out any differently. The eye-rolls after a receiver doesn't do what he wants are really annoying to me. I wonder if Rodgers is traded, if every receiver not named Davante Adams will be secretly relieved.

At this point, it looks like the Packers are going to cave and give Rodgers what he wants - the knowledge that he is THE guy for at least the next three years, barring injury, and probably some say in personnel, and probably the Packers will have to throw in a mea culpa publicly, too. Gutes has started on that part, though it was pretty subdued. You've got to get that sackcloth out and flog yourself while you throw yourself to the ground, Brian.

Yep. I'm seeing it about like this too.

It will probably be three more years of close to guaranteeing for Rodgers as the compromise and it will probably work out. He'll probably have an injury though and Rodgers is gonna come out the winner of this.

It's just a cold business. The reason the league sees so much of this is because it's set up as a cold business and players have to fight for themselves. Cold business is American culture but it doesn't mean everyone is gonna like it. It doesn't mean it's good for people. It doesn't mean it's always gonna go smoothly just because it's our culture and we're conditioned to accept it. There's something even deeper than conditioning. You can condition a child since kindergarten or earlier to accept this stuff and human nature still rears its ugly head and will not like or sometimes accept a cold business.