NFL: Aaron Rodgers wants out of Green Bay? (not anymore?)

[Spring in Fialta]

Short of an overhaul of Green Bay's front office, Rodgers is never donning the Green and Gold again.

 

[GKJ]

The entire league ownership and front office will curb this nonsense. Rogers will be a Packer or retire. Look what they did to Kapernik.

The NFL doesn't want this to become the NBA. Listen, the owners may pay their players more now, they may associate with them more, they may even like some of them .... BUT.... they still don't eat a their table.

I don’t even know what any of this means, but they definitely don’t give a shit about pretty much any of it. The only thing they would care about is they wouldn’t want Rodgers sitting at home. Whether he plays for the Packers or someone else, they definitely don’t care about that either.

 

[adsfan]

You wrote a lot of things here about not trying to directly equate quarterback play to team success and popularity even though that’s exactly what you did. The Bills were one of the most popular teams in the league by the mid-90’s, and then when they weren’t a good team for the better part of 20 years, they started testing the waters for a move to Toronto. This is exactly what the Packers did with Milwaukee as they too went 20 years between hall of fame QB’s. They weren’t even strong enough to get new stadiums, they had to upgrade what they had.

The part about Milwaukee and the stadiums is not entirely correct.

Green Bay began playing games in Milwaukee in 1933 as an effort to survive the Depression, keep money flowing in and expanding their fanbase to become a state team. The Packers kept playing games (usually home games 2 and 5 plus a pre-season game, some years with 3 regular season games in Milwaukee) through 1994. They even played a few playoff games in Milwaukee until 1967. The Milwaukee based fans (Gold Package) still get those same three games (1 pre-season, regular season games 2 and 5) in Lambeau Field. The idea was to make the two hour trip north from Milwaukee to Green Bay easier and safer before the bad weather arrives around Thanksgiving. (My wife used to buy loose fitting Halloween costumes for our kids because it could be cold and even snowy in late October. They had to wear their winter coats underneath the costumes a few times.)

Milwaukee County Stadium opened in 1953 with seating for 36,000. The next year saw expansion to 44,000 and it eventually seated 56,000 for football (usually 53K or 54K for baseball) in 1979. The NFL wanted the team to move to Milwaukee because 25,000 seat City Stadium was really a large high school field that had could not be expanded due to the adjacent river and high school building and was inadequate by NFL standards even during WWII.

Lambeau Field opened in 1957 as the New City Stadium, seating 32,500 to replace City Stadium. Lambeau Field was expanded several times. The last time was in 2013 with the South Terrace adding 7000 seats (not bleachers) to make the capacity 81,441, one of the largest NFL stadiums. Many previous expansion projects took advantage of Milwaukee County Stadium to allow more time for building between road games and the off season. The Packers reported around 1990 that the three Milwaukee based games cost them $1 million a season in expenses over revenue. That is why the team stopped playing here. Milwaukee had become a structural debt instead of a revenue source. Lambeau Field had more fan capacity than County Stadium by 1990 and the 1995 expansion project allowed for higher revenue and lower expenses by playing all of the home games in Green Bay with the additional luxury boxes. County Stadium had no luxury boxes.

Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee - Wikipedia

As far as the Rodgers situation goes, both sides are to blame.

Rodgers has always had a chip on his shoulder for being drafted 24th. He has used that as motivation to excel and beat the other NFL teams that bypassed him. He has had a big ego in recent years. He has some on going issue or issues with his own family, but I don't want to get into that beyond pointing out that he doesn't seem to speak to his parents or brother anymore.

The Packers have been a little on the cheap side in recent years. Rodgers has wanted one more big play receiver to throw to as an option. He recognizes that with another key player, the Packers could win another Super Bowl, which would give him 2 wins to Favre's one and cement his place in team and NFL history. I don't understand why they have not been willing to do that unless they see it as a revenue reducer. The Packers have sold out every game since 1973, they can't sell any more tickets.

The team doesn't want Rodgers to be an assistant GM. They drafted Love to replace Rodgers without telling him that they were going to do that. That got Rodgers' nose out of joint. (Rodgers sat for three seasons behind Favre. I don't know why he expects Love to be any different, especially since I don't remember Love taking a snap last season.) Boyle played in a few games last season, but Green Bay did not re-sign him as they expected and expect Aaron Rodgers to be the #1 QB probably this season and next season.

Rodgers signed a 4 year extension in 2018. It was for a huge amount, well over $100M, with about half guaranteed, and now he doesn't want to play after one year of that new contract. That won't sit well with the blue collar or the white collar Packers fans. It makes him look like he is going back on his word to play for Green Bay for the three years that he has remaining on that contract. It made him one of the top 10 best paid players in the NFL. This year, he gets about $15M in salary plus whatever part of the signing bonus is due, probably another 10 or 15 million. Next year, he gets $25M in salary with the same for the last year of his current contract.

 

[adsfan]

Short of an overhaul of Green Bay's front office, Rodgers is never donning the Green and Gold again.

I don't know how many people on here realize that Green Bay is not like the other 31 NFL teams in structure.

They don't have an owner, like a Jerry Jones.

The Executive Board hires a GM for the team. There has been some variation in power, duties and lines of reporting over the last 30 years or so between the GM and Head Coach.

The board can fire the GM (Brian Gutekunst, GM since 2018, with the team since 1998, starting as a scout) or recommend firing the coach. Bart Starr lasted 9 years as an ineffective coach. Forrest Gregg, another Lombardi era player, replaced him for 4 years with a 25-37-1 record and was also fired. The board was cranky by that time!

Ted Thompson, the previous GM for 12 years, interviewed Gutekunst (and others) for the GM position. Thompson was also originally was hired as a scout for the Packers and moved up over the years to Director of Player Personnel, just like Gutekunst, before becoming the Packers GM. The Packers have a recent history of promoting from within.

My brother, a physicist and engineer, has always said "Never fire a coach until you have a better one to replace him". That should hold true for GMs.

I think that my brother, like you, isn't expecting the Packers GM to go anywhere. They don't grow on trees. Unfortunately for the Packers, neither do HOF quarterbacks.

Look at the Chicago Bears. They probably went through 15 different starting QBs in the time that Favre and Rodgers played for the Packers. Sid Luckman, who played in the 1940s, is still one of the top 5 Bears QBs with the most passes completed, ahead of Jim McMahon (1980s) and just behind Erik Kramer (1990s).

The Packers can't expect Love to become another Rodgers or Favre or Starr. They can only hope that he becomes competent and can win 10 or 11 games in a season and get them into the playoffs. That is all any NFL team without Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers can expect.

The Packers will try to force Rodgers to play for them this season. They don't have much choice since they let Tim Boyle go, his backup last season, so that Jordan Love can be the backup this year. The team doesn't want a 4 or 5 win season, which is likely to happen with an untested 2nd year and essentially a rookie QB.

 

[Blitzkrug]

They can force Rodgers to play all they want. Doesn't mean he's going to.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

They can force Rodgers to play all they want. Doesn't mean he's going to.

Fair enough. He'll pay a shit ton in fines.

Then, if he retires, he'll have to return parts of his signing bonus.

In reality, he has no REAL levrage.

 

[AllDay28]

Fair enough. He'll pay a shit ton in fines.

Then, if he retires, he'll have to return parts of his signing bonus.

In reality, he has no REAL levrage.

he has all the leverage tho

 

[Scandale du Jour]

he has all the leverage tho

How so?

If the Packers refuse to trade him and he refuses to report, he is the one who will lose the most financially.

Sure, the Packers will lose the assets they would get for him, but, at the end of the day, they are losing him anyway.

What is his concrete leverage? Public pressure?

 

[Hasbro]

The Packers will try to force Rodgers to play for them this season. They don't have much choice since they let Tim Boyle go, his backup last season, so that Jordan Love can be the backup this year. The team doesn't want a 4 or 5 win season, which is likely to happen with an untested 2nd year and essentially a rookie QB.

Great thinking. Let an that asset depreciate with another year of age, injury risk and unenthusiastic play. What's he got 3 or 4 years left optimistically? How long do you want Love to apprentice for on top of that? One or two?

The stadium will be packed anyway, eat the 4-5 win season, get a good pick, break Love into the line up and get some capital to rebuild with. Or worst case: force Rogers into retirement, get that 4-5 win season anyway and lose out on the trade return, but gain some pride. Ask Art Modell how that works out.

 

[DOCHockeyGuy]

I saw this thread and couldn’t help myself. This Islanders run, the Brewers, the Bucks run, its all been a welcome distraction to this shit show currently going on in this state.

Here’s the bottom line - both sides bear some blame. Gut drafted Love and had every right to if he feels that he’s the guy. People forget that Rodgers certainly wasn’t playing at an MVP level leading up to that pick, at least by his standards.

Rodgers always has been a diva. There’s zero doubt about that. People can spin this however they want but the reality is this wouldn’t be happening if a QB wasn’t drafted. It just is what it is. He’s throwing a fit because the team is preparing for life without him. The same thing happened to him. He of all people should understand that this is how things work. Gut should’ve looped him in on the possibility but he doesn’t owe Rodgers a damn thing in terms of deciding who does and doesn’t get to be drafted by the team.

I would love to have 12 back with a loaded roster and one more crack at it but if not, I’m ready to see what they have in Love and I’ll cheer my ass off for him too. Just get this cluster**** over with.

 

[adsfan]

Fair enough. He'll pay a shit ton in fines.

Then, if he retires, he'll have to return parts of his signing bonus.

In reality, he has no REAL levrage.

I found some info on his contract.

Aaron Rodgers

The signing bonus is $57.5M. I assume that if Rodgers sits out this season, he would have to pay 1/4 of it back. In addition, if he retires, he would probably have to pay another 1/4 or 1/2 of it back since he has only played 1 season.

His cap hit goes from $38.2M this season, to $39.85M and $28.35M (dead cap of $38.36M, $17.20M and $2.85M.)

After this season, he has no leverage with the steep drop in dead cap.

 

[adsfan]

Great thinking. Let an that asset depreciate with another year of age, injury risk and unenthusiastic play. What's he got 3 or 4 years left optimistically? How long do you want Love to apprentice for on top of that? One or two?

The stadium will be packed anyway, eat the 4-5 win season, get a good pick, break Love into the line up and get some capital to rebuild with. Or worst case: force Rogers into retirement, get that 4-5 win season anyway and lose out on the trade return, but gain some pride. Ask Art Modell how that works out.

At the moment, Rodgers walks in 2024, so 3 years, maybe less. In 2024, he will be 41 and a UFA.

Maybe he retires like Barry Sanders. Sanders had to pay the Lions about $10M in bonus money to retire IIRC.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Ultimately the card the Packers are playing is not the money card, I don't think Rodgers cares about the money.

It's, are you willing to sit a year and not play, while you conceivably only have a few years left to play at all, let alone at a high level and risk not getting a chance to win it all again and add to your legacy?

I think legacy is a big thing for Rodgers and we know he has an ego. I can't see him sitting out and watching this team, which is still very strong, play without him if it means he could have another shot at making it to the big game.

The other piece is I do think he's loyal to guys like Adams, Bakhtiari, Lewis.. and they may all eventually wear him down to put it all aside, come in and play and see if a trade can be approached going into the off-season where Rodgers will have more potential destinations and the Packers can have the preparedness to facilitate that trade.

 

[StreetHawk]

Packers only get value out of Love if they play him during his rookie deal. For that pick to make sense he would need to start no later than year 3, so next season. Even Hurts is expected to start but with a short leash in Philly.

It should be considered a bonus to GB that Rodgers rebounded to a MVP level last season. It would have been the best time to move him and gain assets to help Love on his rookie deal.

Rodgers isn’t Alex Smith who can see the talent of a Mahomes and accept that his time in KC is going to come to an end. Love hasn’t t shown he’s good enough to start yet. So Rodgers is making his power play now. Either sign me to the point where it’s too painful to ever move me or trade me.

 

[Voight]

Ultimately the card the Packers are playing is not the money card, I don't think Rodgers cares about the money.

It's, are you willing to sit a year and not play, while you conceivably only have a few years left to play at all, let alone at a high level and risk not getting a chance to win it all again and add to your legacy?

I think legacy is a big thing for Rodgers and we know he has an ego. I can't see him sitting out and watching this team, which is still very strong, play without him if it means he could have another shot at making it to the big game.

The other piece is I do think he's loyal to guys like Adams, Bakhtiari, Lewis.. and they may all eventually wear him down to put it all aside, come in and play and see if a trade can be approached going into the off-season where Rodgers will have more potential destinations and the Packers can have the preparedness to facilitate that trade.

Agreed. At least give the team one more run and then if they fail, management can look into a trade. Rodgers is a bit of a weird dude overall but he absolutely loves playing football and I have a very hard time believing he will intentionally miss an entire year (especially in the back nine of his career) just because he doesn't like the GM.

 

[missingmika]

I saw this thread and couldn’t help myself. This Islanders run, the Brewers, the Bucks run, its all been a welcome distraction to this shit show currently going on in this state.

Here’s the bottom line - both sides bear some blame. Gut drafted Love and had every right to if he feels that he’s the guy. People forget that Rodgers certainly wasn’t playing at an MVP level leading up to that pick, at least by his standards.

Rodgers always has been a diva. There’s zero doubt about that. People can spin this however they want but the reality is this wouldn’t be happening if a QB wasn’t drafted. It just is what it is. He’s throwing a fit because the team is preparing for life without him. The same thing happened to him. He of all people should understand that this is how things work. Gut should’ve looped him in on the possibility but he doesn’t owe Rodgers a damn thing in terms of deciding who does and doesn’t get to be drafted by the team.

I would love to have 12 back with a loaded roster and one more crack at it but if not, I’m ready to see what they have in Love and I’ll cheer my ass off for him too. Just get this cluster**** over with.

Rodgers has been asking for help for years. Packers have refused to draft help. Between 2015 - 2018 the Packers drafted 6 DBs in the first 2 rounds.

How many WRs have they taken in the first 2 rounds since Rodgers took over! 1 since 2011!

This issue with Rodgers has been building for years.

 

[DOCHockeyGuy]

Rodgers has been asking for help for years. Packers have refused to draft help. Between 2015 - 2018 the Packers drafted 6 DBs in the first 2 rounds.

How many WRs have they taken in the first 2 rounds since Rodgers took over! 1 since 2011!

This issue with Rodgers has been building for years.

You’re right. They only have arguably the best WR in football, the best LT, a top 10 RB - get out of here with the “no help” excuse.

and if you had watched the Packers defense you’d understand why they draft secondary players.

 

[StreetHawk]

You’re right. They only have arguably the best WR in football, the best LT, a top 10 RB - get out of here with the “no help” excuse.

and if you had watched the Packers defense you’d understand why they draft secondary players.

A good defence is just as helpful as a weapon. To me WR/TE/RB get overvalued mainly due to them putting up numbers for Fantasy. OL and Defence, not a focus of fantasy, but they are important for a team to win.

OL, we saw with KC what happens when there are injuries to the OL. Thus, need depth at the position.

An top defence gets you stops or turnovers and reduces the amount of points your offense needs to score.

But, you can also ask whether the Packers got value for their top picks over that period of time when they were drafting Defence from the time period of 2014-2019 before they took Love. Jaire Alexander is a great pick, even with the cost of a 3rd to move up. The year that Rodgers got hurt last and they traded down to NO to gain another 1st round pick.

2014 - Dix/Adams top 2 picks. Dix they didn't pick up the 5th year option. Was a starter for them but you kind of expect to keep 1st round picks for 5 years if they made a good pick.
2015 - Randall/Rollins - neither panned out as Randall as the guy moved to CLE for that ND QB
2016 - Clark/Spriggs - good selections, still with the team through rookie contracts
2017 - King/Jones - King has been a disappointment. Jones gone after year 2.
2018 - Alexander/Jackson - Alexander is a pro bowl CB. Worth the trade up price. Jackson is with the team as well
2019 - Gary/Savage/Jenkins. Gary started only 4 games so far. Savage is a starter.

No issue drafting defensive players. Overall, not the best hit rate on their draft picks over the past several years. Adams/Alexander the best selections, pro bowlers.

 

[missingmika]

You’re right. They only have arguably the best WR in football, the best LT, a top 10 RB - get out of here with the “no help” excuse.

and if you had watched the Packers defense you’d understand why they draft secondary players.

The person whose opinion matters here is Aaron Rodgers. He’s mad he hasn’t received help.

Adams is a good WR but he’s not special without an MVP QB. How many Packers WRs have fell off the face of the earth away from Rodgers? Cobb, Jennings, etc.

The LT was a 4th round pick they got lucky on.

No first round draft talent for the best QB in history. He’s had a make shift Oline most his career as well. He was even sacked 8 times in a half in his career!

No one can argue that the Packers have committed significant draft or free agent capital to help Rodgers.

 

[StreetHawk]

The person whose opinion matters here is Aaron Rodgers. He’s mad he hasn’t received help.

Adams is a good WR but he’s not special without an MVP QB. How many Packers WRs have fell off the face of the earth away from Rodgers? Cobb, Jennings, etc.

The LT was a 4th round pick they got lucky on.

No first round draft talent for the best QB in history. He’s had a make shift Oline most his career as well. He was even sacked 8 times in a half in his career!

No one can argue that the Packers have committed significant draft or free agent capital to help Rodgers.

If the Packers got excellent Defenders for their picks, that still helps Rodgers. Not everyone going to turn out to be pro bowlers like Alexander, but need good starters similar to the quality of a Clark. But, looking back on those drafts from 2014-2019 for rounds 1 & 2, they made 13 selections, 10 on Defence and 3 on Offense.

3 defenders who would be in their 2nd contract were gone after or during their rookie contracts.

Jones already gone while on rookie deal. King probably doesn't get a second contract from the Packers. Gary in 2 seasons has started just 4 games for a first round pick.

 

[End of Line]

Rodgers has become more of a pain in the ass than Favre. At the end of the day no one player is bigger than the team.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Rodgers has become more of a pain in the ass than Favre. At the end of the day no one player is bigger than the team.

It's a platitude that we want to sound nice but the truth is that's just not the case. Yes, players like Aaron Rodgers are bigger than the team. So is Tom Brady. So was Michael Jordan, Lebron James and some others. The Chicago Bulls have been a big fat nothing without MJ. Same with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Miami Heat have been far from the same as well. In fact, they went from finalists to 10th in the East the instant he left. And that's just two examples. Aaron Rodgers plays at quarterback, the most important position in sports, and is very much inside that Jordan/Lebron/Brady realm of effectiveness. He very much is bigger than the Green Bay Packers.

 

[StreetHawk]

It's a platitude that we want to sound nice but the truth is that's just not the case. Yes, players like Aaron Rodgers are bigger than the team. So is Tom Brady. So was Michael Jordan, Lebron James and some others. The Chicago Bulls have been a big fat nothing without MJ. Same with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Miami Heat have been far from the same as well. In fact, they went from finalists to 10th in the East the instant he left. And that's just two examples. Aaron Rodgers plays at quarterback, the most important position in sports, and is very much inside that Jordan/Lebron/Brady realm of effectiveness. He very much is bigger than the Green Bay Packers.

As long as elite QBs are playing they are bigger than the team but the team obviously outlasts the player.

didn’t this come up in the exit interviews? It should have.

I think if SF offered their package to GB vs Miami that GB would consider taking it. Maybe only change is to drop a 1st and ask for WR Aiyuk instead to give Love more help this season.

 

[Shockmaster]

So apparently Rodgers has the option of opting out of the season by July 2nd, which would save him a lot of money. The only thing is he wouldn't be able to play football for anyone else if he was traded until 2022.

 

[jcs0218]

It's a platitude that we want to sound nice but the truth is that's just not the case. Yes, players like Aaron Rodgers are bigger than the team. So is Tom Brady. So was Michael Jordan, Lebron James and some others. The Chicago Bulls have been a big fat nothing without MJ. Same with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Miami Heat have been far from the same as well. In fact, they went from finalists to 10th in the East the instant he left. And that's just two examples. Aaron Rodgers plays at quarterback, the most important position in sports, and is very much inside that Jordan/Lebron/Brady realm of effectiveness. He very much is bigger than the Green Bay Packers.

He isn't bigger than the Green Bay Packers.

I have wrote a few posts outlining my views on that.

The other athletes you mentioned didn't play for storied franchises. Their franchise were irrelevant before the star arrived, so it isn't surprising they returned to irrelevancy once the star left.

The Packers are different. They are up there with the Cowboys and Steelers as "NFL royalty" in terms of brand.

Even up in Canada, there are Packers fans everywhere you go.

Maybe if Rodgers played for a team like the Bengals or the Cardinals he would be able to pull this diva act. But the Packers are a bigger entity than he is.

The Packers have a long storied tradition and history. Aaron Rodgers is only a piece of the puzzle, not the entire picture like he would be on some other teams. He might not even be top 5 in their echelon of legends. Lambeau, Lombardi, Starr, Nitschke, and Favre all meant more for the Packers franchise than Aaron Rodgers. This is a different situation than Jordan, Brady, and James.

The Packers kept prospering, profiting, and remaining popular after each and every one of those other 5 more important and more meaningful figures left. Do you think they should feel threatened by Rodgers? I don't think so.