Aaron Rodgers Would Have Been Welcome Back to the Green Bay Packers if He Met 1 Condition

Aaron Rodgers and his imminent divorce from the Green Bay Packers continue to dominate the NFL offseason’s headlines. There are many people who question the Packers’ decision to move on from a four-time MVP to an unproven former first round draft pick. After all, everyone knows what they are getting from Rodgers. Jordan Love is an unknown. However, according to Peter King of NBC Sports, Green Bay may not have had a choice due to Rodgers’ unwillingness to commit to them.

Aaron Rodgers Would Not Give the Packers 100% in the Offseason

There is a big difference between allowing Rodgers to take his time making a decision and allowing him to continue to avoid team activities all offseason. Rodgers was, by his own admission, 90% retiring-10% playing when he entered the darkness. Furthermore, he has not participated in organized team activities during the offseason for year. King hypothesizes that the Packers, seeing how poorly their young offense performed without offseason prep with Rodgers, desired their future Hall of Famer to workout with them during team activities. Apparently, this was something Rodgers was unwilling to do. King wrote:

“Having covered Brett Favre from Green Bay to the Jets 15 years ago, I find this one part of the comparable stories to be eerily similar. Green Bay GM Ted Thompson wanted an all-in Favre in March 2008, Favre wasn’t willing to commit to being an off-season warrior, and retired before coming back in a trade to the Jets. I think when this story is finished, we’ll see that Green Bay GM Brian Gutekunst wanted an all-in Rodgers in March 2023 and knew he wouldn’t get it.

“More evidence for that got piled on the other day when Rodgers told Pat McAfee he was 90-percent retired when he went into his recent darkness retreat. So just like the late Thompson turned to the unproven fourth-year former first-rounder, Rodgers, to step in for Favre, now Gutekunst turns to the unproven fourth-year former first-rounder, Jordan Love, to replace Rodgers.”

So, had Rodgers told the Packers from the onset of the offseason that he would be back, that he would be willing to workout with the young players during mini-camp and OTA’s, we would not be having this conversation. His unwillingness to commit to the Packers 100% led them to the decision that it was time to move on.

Should the Packers Have Waited for Aaron Rodgers to Be Committed?

There are those on social media that believe the Packers should have waited from an answer from Rodgers before making any kind of decision. After all, he did say he would not hold the team hostage. Now, well, this is kind of a mess.

The problem with that argument, though, is that it continues to be based on the opinion that one player can be and should be above the team as a whole. The Packers have never been an organization to bow to the timeline of a veteran, great, MVP player. Sure, they may try to appease them while said player is at the top of their game (i.e. trading for their friend Randall Cobb). However, when the time comes to move on, the Packers almost never wait until it’s too late and their play declines.

Rodgers himself stated on The Pat McAfee Show that the “vibe” he had all year long was that 2022 was the last season he would be in Green Bay. If he was feeling that way during the season, I believe his decision for 2023 was made before they lost to the Lions in Week 18: he was never coming back.

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