Aaron Rodgers
Photo via: Flickr.com
So Aaron Rodgers will be remaining with the Green Bay Packers for at least one more season and, despite the team’s intransigence over what would have been a blockbuster trade, that he’s staying put is the NFL’s biggest surprise heading into next term.
It appeared certain Rodgers had played his final game for the Packers last postseason but the parties have been able to find common ground and the team will have another shot at a Super Bowl championship with Rodgers leading the charge. Of course, he might decide to stick around past the end of the upcoming season but there will be even more uncertainty over his future then.
The player has agreed to a restructured contract with the Packers that will allow him to leave next year should he so desire. With Jordan Love now waiting in line, it’s very likely Rodgers indeed pays out his last season with the team this year. But he has made it clear that he does not want a farewell tour and isn’t keen on his potential exit turning the season into a drawn-out sendoff.
“I don’t want a farewell tour,” he said via ESPN. “I don’t know what’s going to happen after the season, but I’m going to enjoy it with the right perspective, for sure, and not look at it as I’m getting through this. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of all of it.”
Rodgers thinking might not be that far off from where it was when he was going into 2020. The player intimated he felt that, at times, last year would have been his final year with the Packers given his anger over their drafting Love in the first round.
“The reason I approached it like that is I just knew when the pick was made that the clock had started, for sure,” he explained. “And I thought unless there was something in the season that really made me feel like I’m going to be here past 2021 that maybe this would be my last year. I didn’t want to be going into a year with some sort of … as a lame duck, like I said. I didn’t think that was fair to what I accomplished and what I mean to this team, and nothing really changed in that regard. I went into the offseason, that [it] could have been it.
Photo via: Wikimedia Commons
“I’m glad that I enjoyed every moment, I’m glad that I led exactly the way I wanted to lead and looked for those conversations with certain guys that needed a pick-me-up at different times. I took the headphones off and enjoyed the surroundings and the road trips and the time with the guys. Yeah, it’s a good template, for sure.”
The Packers are among the favorites for the upcoming term and Ceasars Sportsbook has them tied for the fourth-best odds to win the Super Bowl next year. They will also be favored in the NFL picks and lines throughout the term and, should they get over the NFC Championship hump, one would think they would have a great chance to win it all with the reigning league MVP.
Having lashed out at suggestions of joint practices with the Houston Texans two years ago, Rodgers has since softened his stance on the matter after quipping “I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t do it for another 14 years,” after the Packers held practices together with another team for the first time in 14 years.
The team held a joint practice with the New York Jets on Wednesday and there was very little negativity coming out of the superstar quarterback.
“Tom [Fanning, Packers assistant director of communications] just told me out here, he said, ‘Do not go scorched earth about joint practices,’ so I’m trying my best,” he said with a smile. “Look, I’ve never been a huge fan of joint practices, but I think I’ve said as well there’s merit to certain aspects of it.
“That’s why I think I have a slightly different perspective about these practices with other teams. I tongue-and-cheeked with Tom about going scorched earth. There is a lot of stuff to be gained from these type of practices. For me personally, the perspective through some of the work I’ve done in the offseason and trying to just be more joyful and happier is going to allow this season to be really special and memorable, I think.”
The QB isn’t expected to play in the preseason and Love will be the starter on that front. He did not practice on Wednesday after suffering a shoulder strain in the preseason opener but Matt LaFleur hasn’t ruled him out against the Jets for Saturday’s game.
“It’s still day-to-day, but we’ll give him every opportunity,” the coach said. “We just don’t want to ever put him in a situation where it could make it worse.”