Quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have sent some not-so-subtle messages to the Green Bay Packers during his Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I think no player wants to be part of any type of rebuild,” Rodgers explained, per Kevin Patra of the NFL’s website. “I said that years ago. Reloads are a lot of fun because you feel like you’re close, you’re only a couple guys away. This game is about relationships. It’s about the guys you rely on, even if they don’t maybe show up huge in the stat book.”
Specifically, Rodgers mentioned tight ends Marcedes Lewis and Robert Tonyan, wide receivers Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, and offensive tackle David Bakhtiari among those he’d “want to finish my career with” presumably as a member of the Packers. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky pointed out, though, salary-cap issues could prevent Green Bay from holding onto everyone Rodgers wants even if he commits to spending another season with the club.
Rodgers signed a lucrative extension with the Packers last March but made it known after the loss to the Detroit Lions on Jan. 8 that eliminated Green Bay from the playoffs that he could walk away from the remaining money attached to that deal. The 39-year-old met with the Packers about the future last week and said Tuesday that “there’s more conversations to be had.”
Rodgers also declared he thinks he can win the fifth Most Valuable Player award of his Hall of Fame career but only if he’s “in the right situation.” While he hinted he isn’t sure if Green Bay is still right for him, he also offered no timeline for when he could announce his intentions for the 2023 campaign.
According to ESPN, Rodgers finished this past regular season 26th among 31 eligible passers with a 39.3 total QBR. He was seventh with 26 passing touchdowns but threw more interceptions (12) than all but six signal-callers.
Despite Rodgers’ on-the-field struggles, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have said they want the one-time Super Bowl champion to remain atop the depth chart through the offseason. Tuesday’s comments indicate LaFleur and Gutekunst know what must be done to appease Rodgers before the summer months arrive.
