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

[run pMc]

They will figure it out. If Woody Johnson got spooked by Rodgers on McAfee and doesn't want to give up a potential R1 next year, I'm sure Gute's "doesn't have to be a first round pick" comment indicates there's room to negotiate still.
I don't blame GB for sticking with whatever was agreed upon previously, sounds like NYJ changed their offer after McAfee. Both sides are playing games, and ultimately a game of chicken. Someone will give in and a deal will be struck. There's been too much PR already to go back, it would look really bad and damage a few careers.

Rodgers won't be walking back into camp, and I really don't see him getting paid to stay home, retire, or be a backup. Saleh and Douglas have publicly spoken as saying they expect Rodgers to be a Jet. He's getting traded.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Other than the uncertainty, there's not any real rush to get this done. If you can live with a bit of uncertainty, you could wait right up until the draft to try to extract maximum value, or even wait after that a bit Believe me, I'd like it to get done pronto, but I can't see any real reason they HAVE to get it done right away. The draft is one deadline, but even if that doesn't happen, they could sit tight. Though at that point you'd think there could be trouble on the horizon. For both sides.

My lightly-educated sense is that the difference between maximum value and minimum value isn't very much. Not much drama left. We need a dick pic or something to get a better story going.

[Fosco33]

Or until early June and use 2024 guaranteed draft picks

[run pMc]

I think GB would prefer it done before the draft so they get something NOW. I also think they don't want to spread Rodgers cap hit across two years with a post-June trade.
They'll want to have Rodgers off the roster before they exercise JL's 5th year option in May. Everything points to it happening on/near draft night.

[Fritz]

I would say that this is the most logical, but of course it all depends on how hard both sides want to squeeze, and how they perceive the weakness of the other side. If the Jets think the Packers have more to lose than they do by waiting, then the Jets will wait - after all, if they wait until after the draft, they keep all their picks this year. If the Jets feel the pressure from their own side more than they see the Packers sweating, they'll get it done sooner.

[texaspackerbacker]

What both sides have to lose hahahaha .......

For the Jets, it's the difference between being a Super Bowl contender, one of the best teams in the NFL with Rodgers, and in the abyss - again - without him.

For the Packers, if by some miracle, Rodgers comes back and plays as well as anybody with a brain expects he can/will, they are at or very close to the absolute top of the NFL. If he is gone, no amount of high draft picks are gonna prevent them from falling to near the bottom of the league for who knows how many years without him.

So making the trade happen means everything to the Jets and nothing to the Packers - before the draft or after, before June or after, that's just the way it is.

[Bretsky]

a 2nd this year and a 1st next year (which would quate value wise to being a 2nd, and most likely a late 2nd if the Jets have a good record) seems to be fair

If the Jets wanna screw us I say F'CK the Jets and trade him somewhere else and let the Jets be stuck with Lizard for way too much $$$

If Karen doesn't wanna go elsewhere he can retire, which financially would be ok for Green Bay

[call_me_ishmael]

I could not disagree with you more on this one Bretsky. I think the Packers owe it to him to let him play where he wants. Ideally they just cut him outright. Consider it a past good deeds thing.

The Packers signed ARod to a contract and don't want to honor it. They are choosing to move on. Don't disrespect the guy further.

Realistically they should just do the deal with Jets and take a 2nd which is a pretty good deal IMO.

[Bretsky]

I could not disagree with you more on this one Bretsky. I think the Packers owe it to him to let him play where he wants. Ideally they just cut him outright. Consider it a past good deeds thing.

The Packers signed ARod to a contract and don't want to honor it. They are choosing to move on. Don't disrespect the guy further.

Realistically they should just do the deal with Jets and take a 2nd which is a pretty good deal IMO.

IMO that is ridiculous. GB owes him nothing. He's made incredible money in GB. I'm not a Gutebag big fan, but he drove GB to sign him to a ludicrious deal. I'm not blaming anybody but Gute/Murphy for that, but they don't owe Rodgers a thing.

You do understand the implications of cutting him, right...all 69ish million.

Rodgers didn't fully dedicate himself to GB after he raked us over the coals with the deal (again GB's fault). But Rodgers was less than an ideal teammate, leader....etc. GB owes him nothing and should wait til they get a deal for them that they are happy with.

[call_me_ishmael]

IMO that is ridiculous. GB owes him nothing. He's made incredible money in GB. I'm not a Gutebag big fan, but he drove GB to sign him to a ludicrious deal. I'm not blaming anybody but Gute/Murphy for that, but they don't owe Rodgers a thing.

You do understand the implications of cutting him, right...all 69ish million.

Rodgers didn't fully dedicate himself to GB after he raked us over the coals with the deal (again GB's fault). But Rodgers was less than an ideal teammate, leader....etc. GB owes him nothing and should wait til they get a deal for them that they are happy with.

He made market rate money - if not less. He certainly would have made more as a FA. I don't like the argument that he made crazy money. It seems sort of silly to me. I don't see how it's relevant!

The Packers can't cut him - I agree - and Rodgers likely doesn't want to be cut anyway since he has such a phat deal and wouldn't get it again.

The point is the Packers signed him to a contract and Rodgers was willing to honor that - the Packers are not. As such, they should do right by the player IMO. We can agree to disagree.

[Bretsky]

If he made market money, then he owes GB no loyalty and GB owed him no loyalty. But after GB gave him the contract, I think he disappointed GB in terms of his dedication, leadership, as well as other things.

I don't know what happened in that after the season meeting. But many, including me feel Gute decided to tell Karen he was no longer the Assistant GM, and he only wanted Aaron back if he rededicated himself to his teammates. And he added that several of the veterans are not coming back and he would need to be at peace with that.

Last year Gutebag gave up his testicles in the terms he let happen to get Karen Back.

Gute wanted his stones back and I don't think Karen was going to let that happen.

I don't blame GB for not wanting a partially dedicated QB back. There is PLENTY of blame for both of them.

[call_me_ishmael]

Agreed but that doesn't change the fact they decided they didn't want to honor his contract and are holding him hostage. It's not right. I think the Colts did the right move when they moved on from Peyton - let him go where he wants - he has earned that right by creating countless millionaires in GB and keeping many folks employed and keeping the Packers a wildly successful and consistent team over his tenure.

[run pMc]

I don't think they are holding him hostage. I think he sabotaged a deal. GB&NYJ had a framework in place before he went on McAfee talking about 90% leaning towards retirement, which spooked the hell out of Woody Johnson.
So now they are back to sorting out compensation, but Gute is ostensibly holding firm to the "we had a deal" perspective. Meanwhile there's all the draft stuff going on with pro day visits etc which get in the way of having conversations, and finally there isn't any real need to get it done until the draft.

If Rodgers wants to play for the Jets, they should trade him there. For cap purposes cutting him would be the terrible option, second to bringing him back as the backup.

The idea of owing loyalty is a little odd to me here, it's more about just not being a dick. Rodgers' time with GB has run its course, the team is done with his antics. No need to make things worse or awkward, especially since Rodgers has no qualms about airing his side of things publicly.

That contract extension was a bad idea. I get not trading him last year after he'd had back to back MVP seasons, but giving him that kind of money was guaranteed to destroy your cap and limit your ability to both re-sign your own players and sign any free agents. I hope they learned their lesson. People talk about Russ Ball like he's a genius, in this case he either drank idiot juice or Mark Murphy drugged him and negotiated that contract himself.

[ThunderDan]

I could not disagree with you more on this one Bretsky. I think the Packers owe it to him to let him play where he wants. Ideally they just cut him outright. Consider it a past good deeds thing.

The Packers signed ARod to a contract and don't want to honor it. They are choosing to move on. Don't disrespect the guy further.

Realistically they should just do the deal with Jets and take a 2nd which is a pretty good deal IMO.

Bullshit!! ARod is a valuable piece. You trade him for value. If Gute flat out released ARod, I would want Gute fired tomorrow.

I said the same thing when the BF shit was going down. If you own the rights to a valuable asset you trade it for value.

This ain't an old coffee table you are giving to Goodwill.

[Bretsky]

FROM MIKE GREENBERG (A JETS LOVER)

I have heard that Rodgers has sent signals to the Jets that there is no reason to rush, that he's not coming til May anyway so there is no reason to rush