Aaron Rodgers trade in conference?
Aaron Rodgers has been vocal recently about the Green Bay Packers possibly trading him. He said the talk going around social media is all chatter, as Rodgers and the Packers have not discussed trade options. However, Rodgers’ name has been linked to various AFC teams who need a quarterback next season. There is a good likelihood that Rodgers is traded this offseason.
Adam Schefter with ESPN said that the Packers were not going to trade Rodgers to an NFC team this offseason. However, a new report by Pete Dougherty with the Green Bay Press-Gazette casts that in doubt. Dougherty wrote a piece about what the Packers could expect to get in return for trading Rodgers after his lackluster season. Dougherty quotes a scout who said the Packers would be willing to trade Aaron Rodgers to an NFC team for the right price:
“There’s also the question of whether the Packers might be unwilling to send Rodgers to rivals within the NFC. Former GM Ted Thompson, remember, insisted on dealing Favre to the AFC back in ‘08, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter said he thinks the Packers wouldn’t trade Rodgers within the NFC, though it’s unclear whether he was reporting that or just speculating.
The guess here is that wouldn’t be as big an issue for Gutekunst as it was for Thompson, in part because the PR fallout of trading Rodgers will be nothing like it was with Favre, and in part because GMs around the league are more willing to trade with rivals than they were a decade or more ago.
“I think they would if they got the right compensation,” one of the scouts said of trading him within the NFC.”
What would be the right compensation?
A desperate NFC team would probably have to give more value than an AFC team. One would assume an AFC team would need to send a first-round pick and possibly a player or late-round pick. If Aaron Rodgers were traded to an NFC team, the price should be a first-round pick and an early draft pick. The fine details of the trade will surely involve negotiating Rodgers’ contract, a big hurdle in the Packers’ quest to trade the four-time MVP.