It sounds like Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would’ve welcomed quarterback Aaron Rodgers returning to the team for the 2023 season under one condition.
In his latest “Football Morning in America” column, NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote that he believes “Gutekunst wanted an all-in Rodgers in March 2023 and knew he wouldn’t get it.”
King referenced that, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN pointed out, Rodgers claimed during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” this past Wednesday that he entered his much-publicized darkness retreat this winter “90 percent retired and 10 percent playing.” According to King, that comment helped proved Gutekunst was correct in his mindset.
It was reported in the middle of February that the Packers had “all but moved on from” Rodgers and wanted to start unproven 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Love this coming season.
However, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero later said that the Packers wanted Rodgers to remain their QB1 for at least another campaign “if he wants to return to Green Bay and as long as he’s fully bought in.”
The story then took an interesting turn when Packers president and chief executive officer Mark Murphy indicated on March 10 that the organization was ready to move on from Rodgers unless “things don’t work out the way that we would want them.”
Rodgers told McAfee that he intends to play for the New York Jets later this year, and multiple insiders have said they think the two clubs could agree to compensation and complete a trade before the end of the month and maybe even before this coming Friday. Financially speaking, the Packers theoretically can hold out until after the upcoming NFL Draft if their asking price isn’t met by the Jets.
Assuming King is correct regarding Gutekunst, one wonders if Rodgers could experience a change of heart this spring and convince both the executive and head coach Matt LaFleur that he could embrace an “all-in” mentality as it pertains to finishing his career with what’s been his only NFL home since the 2005 draft.
