Hot Take: This is why Aaron Rodgers will retire a Packer 

For me, there’s no doubt that Aaron Rodgers will return for the 2023-2024 season. Watching Tom Brady play his last games, it was apparent retirement was on the horizon. With all the rumors, it’s easy to forget if the Packers trade Aaron Rodgers before June 1st, the Packers will eat nearly $40M. After June 1st, the cap hit becomes $15M.

Rodger’s 2023 salary needs to be clarified.

$58.3M is guaranteed, and the team has an option that, if declined between March 17th, 2023, and the first week of the season, converts the base salary into a bonus figure of $58.3M, according to Sportstrac. That’s nearly $60M Green Bay will have invested in Aaron Rodgers in 2023. I don’t care how many drafts picks Las Vegas offers. It’s unrealistic to think the Packers will eat $40M. 

And Rodgers knows it. Sure, he’s making comments in public about the trade rumors. Aaron Rodgers said only two days ago when asked if he had heard any rumors,

“I’m saying that the predominant team we hear as we’re walking is Raiders. A lot of Raider fans are encouraging me, and a lot of ‘Davante misses you’ comments. We’re having some fun with it.”  

Aaron Rodgers enjoys the drama. He loves the controversy but understands he isn’t going anywhere. Sure, it’s exciting to think of Davante Adams catching passes from Rodgers or Aaron in New York with the Jet’s defense. Jordan Love is all about it, but it’s more likely we will see Jordan Love exit Green Bay than Aaron Rodgers, and if by some miracle Rodgers is traded, it will be after June 1st. The NFL draft is on April 27th. 

The 2022-2023 Season is over

Physically, something about Aaron Rodgers was off in 2022-2023. He played through several injuries and hardly missed a snap. He may have thrown more interceptions than any other time in his career (outside of 2008, his first real season), but he never gave up on the game. He willed his team back into playoff contention. He has a young group of receivers in Green Bay and a head coach he avocated to get. The team has holes on the offensive line and defense, but it’s a more solid unit than at the beginning of 2022. 

The 2022-2023 Green Bay Packers had some rough moments, but by the end of the season, they had figured out how to win games. Aaron Rodgers wants to compete for a Superbowl, and he knows his best odds are on a team like Green Bay, not the Jets or Raiders. Ignore the talking heads. It’s a great story, but it’s not happening. Aaron Rodgers will retire as a Green Bay Packer.

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