Day by day appears to shed new gentle on the feud between Aaron Rodgers and the Inexperienced Bay Packers. 13 years after Brett Favre endured an unceremonious departure, his successor seems increasingly more more likely to go away on equally shaky phrases. How, precisely, did we get thus far? When did all the raging commerce rumors first kick into excessive gear? Because the Packers attempt to downplay the opportunity of Rodgers heading elsewhere and the reigning NFL MVP apparently jockeys to regulate his personal future, here is a timeline of what is gone down and what might come subsequent:
The 2020 draft
April 23, 2020: The Packers commerce up from No. 30 to No. 26 and choose Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, their first Day 1 QB choose since Rodgers in 2005. The transfer is not unprecedented, with different golf equipment (just like the Chiefs, in 2017) shifting up for a QB successor regardless of already boasting a playoff-proven starter, and Rodgers coming off three straight “subdued” seasons — one shortened by damage and all with fewer than 30 landing passes, a mark he’d hit in 5 of his earlier six years. Nonetheless, simply two years after the Packers signed Rodgers, 36, to a four-year extension by means of 2023, it has ripple results …
April 24, 2020: Packers coach Matt LaFleur locations a telephone name to Rodgers after (nearly) welcoming Like to Inexperienced Bay. He tells NFL Community’s Mike Silver that Rodgers stays the Packers’ future at QB: “Clearly, Aaron Rodgers is the chief of this soccer staff, and my expectation is that he will probably be for a very long time. I sincerely love the man, and I really like working with him, and it is a hell of a variety of enjoyable. I am actually enthusiastic about the place we are able to take this, and that hasn’t modified one bit.”
April 29, 2020: Brett Favre joins “The Wealthy Eisen Present” and says he spoke with Rodgers after the Love choose, suggesting the shock transfer “bought the wheels delivering Aaron’s thoughts” a couple of future cut up with the Packers. He predicts Rodgers will end his profession elsewhere.
Hinting at a cut up
Could 15, 2020: Rodgers addresses reporters in the beginning of the offseason program, saying he was shocked by the Love choose however is worked up to work with the rookie QB, earlier than hinting he might ultimately play elsewhere: “Like every nice athlete, there’s issues which might be out of my management … If there looks like a time the place I really feel like I can play at a excessive stage, and my physique feels nice, there’s been different nice gamers which have gone onto play elsewhere.”
July 28, 2020: Rodgers tells Kyle Brandt, through The Ringer, that he foresees — and is at peace with — a future cut up with Inexperienced Bay: “I feel that is in all probability what occurs … Simply take a look at the information. They traded up, they drafted him, clearly they like him, they wanna play him … And I get it, I actually do. I do not harbor any sick will about it. Like, was I bummed out? After all. Who would not be? I needed to play my total profession in Inexperienced Bay. I liked town. I grew up there … However look, I get it. I see it utterly clearly, and I am not bitter about it. It simply sort of is what it’s.”
Fall 2020: With a literal MVP efficiency, Rodgers “flips the script” on the Packers’ obvious succession plan, guiding Inexperienced Bay to a second consecutive NFC Championship look whereas throwing a career-high 48 touchdowns and 121.5 QB ranking, his greatest since 2011, when he was recent off a Tremendous Bowl win and claimed his first MVP.
Hinting at a cut up: Half II
Jan. 24, 2021: Instantly following the Packers’ NFC title-game loss to the Buccaneers, Rodgers is requested by reporters what lies forward for him: “I actually do not know. There’s a variety of unknowns going into this offseason now. I am gonna must take a while away, for positive, and simply clear my head and simply kinda see what is going on on with every little thing. It is fairly powerful proper now, particularly interested by the fellows which will or might not be right here subsequent 12 months. That makes the finality of all of it sort of you hit you want a ton of bricks.”
Jan. 24, 2021: Requested whether or not Rodgers will probably be again after the NFC Championship loss, coach Matt LaFleur helps the QB — who’s nonetheless below contract by means of 2023 — however leaves the door open for change: “I positive as hell hope so. I imply, the man is the MVP of this league. He is the guts and soul of our soccer staff. So, hell yeah. He higher be again right here. He is our chief.”
Jan. 26, 2021: Packers president Mark Murphy downplays hypothesis about Rodgers’ future — together with from the QB himself — with feedback on WFNL radio in Inexperienced Bay: “We’re not idiots. Aaron Rodgers will probably be again. He is our chief.”
Jan. 26, 2021: CBS Sports activities NFL insider Jason La Canfora studies that coaches, normal managers and different executives across the NFL are quietly anticipating a “bitter divorce” between Rodgers and the Packers this offseason. Some imagine the QB is ready to “pull a Carson Palmer,” the previous Bengals QB who basically retired his approach right into a commerce out of Cincinnati in 2011.
Jan. 26, 2021: ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio studies that Rodgers solely needs to return in 2021 below a brand new contract with further ensures. “A brand new deal means renewed vows,” Florio writes. “No new deal means the clock will nonetheless tick towards a possible, if not inevitable, divorce.”
Jan. 31, 2021: A day after the Rams agree to amass Matthew Stafford from the Lions, the Los Angeles Occasions studies the staff tried to commerce for Rodgers first. The Packers shortly rebuffed their efforts, Sam Farmer writes.
Feb. 1, 2021: Packers GM Brian Gutekunst tells ESPN there isn’t any reality to the report of a possible Rams commerce, reiterating that Rodgers is Inexperienced Bay’s QB of the short- and long-term future: “We’re actually excited not just for subsequent 12 months however the years to come back. He is enjoying at such a excessive stage that he all the time has, and I feel this 12 months was a particular staff. It did not end like we needed to complete, however I feel everyone’s purely motivated to get again and I feel, like I stated, I do not suppose there’s something that we’ve to do. He is our quarterback, and he is our chief.”
April 3, 2021: Rodgers joins ESPN’s Kenny Mayne for a one-on-one and reiterates that his Packers future is unsure: “I did not know if that was truly potential to have the ability to end (in Inexperienced Bay). I nonetheless really feel that is sort of the place we’re at. I do not know that a variety of that’s in my fingers. I suppose we’ll simply sort of see as we go.” Pressed by Mayne to easily declare he needs to stay a Packer for all times, Rodgers provides this: “Ken, you and I each know that is not how this works.”
April 5, 2021: Showing on the Pat McAfee Present, Rodgers once more says his future is “fairly unsure” and suggests his 2020 MVP efficiency ran counter to the Packers’ plans at QB: “My future, actually, a variety of it is out of my management. That is why I exploit a phrase like ‘stunning thriller.’ As a result of it’s fairly unsure which instructions that issues are going to go. All I can do is play my greatest, and I really feel like final 12 months I did try this, and will have thrown a wrench into some timelines which have been thought of or desired.”
April 14, 2021: Former Packers standout Charles Woodson, who performed with Rodgers from 2006-2012, tells CBS Sports activities Radio he foresees a “nasty” cut up between Rodgers and Inexperienced Bay.
The 2021 draft
April 28, 2021: A day earlier than the beginning of the 2021 draft, the 49ers inquire a couple of potential Rodgers commerce, as GM John Lynch later confirms. Stories point out their No. 3 total choose is floated as a part of an unofficial provide for the QB, however Inexperienced Bay refuses to have interaction.
April 29, 2021: The morning of Day 1 of the draft, a 12 months after Inexperienced Bay’s shock transfer up for Love, ESPN’s Adam Schefter studies Rodgers “is so disgruntled with the Packers that he has instructed some inside the group that he doesn’t need to return to the staff.” ProFootballTalk unofficially echoes the report, saying Rodgers “does not like anybody” within the Packers’ entrance workplace.
April 29, 2021: ESPN’s Trey Wingo studies that, as of the evening earlier than the draft, Rodgers was satisfied he’d be traded to the 49ers. He additionally suggests the Packers instructed Rodgers earlier within the offseason they’d deal him, solely to backtrack on that stance.
April 30, 2021: ProFootballTalk studies that Rodgers has ready an inventory of three groups he’d choose to be traded to: The 49ers, Broncos and Raiders. Denver emerges as an obvious front-runner, with analyst Mark Schlereth telling 104.3 The Fan {that a} Broncos commerce is “as near a executed deal as it could possibly get.”
April 30, 2021: The Broncos take into account buying and selling again within the draft so as to add extra picks for a possible Rodgers commerce bundle, as later reported by NFL Community’s Mike Silver.
April 30, 2021: NFL Community’s Ian Rapoport studies Rodgers is significantly considering retirement “except the scenario (in Inexperienced Bay) is repaired to his liking.” Recent off an look because the superstar visitor host of “Jeopardy,” Rodgers is ready to doubtlessly pivot to a TV job barring a commerce, Rapoport says.
Could 1, 2021: Packers president Mark Murphy acknowledges an “subject” with Rodgers in a column on the staff’s official web site: “This is a matter that we’ve been engaged on for a number of months. (GM) Brian Gutekunst, (coach) Matt LaFleur and I’ve flown out on numerous events to fulfill with Aaron. We’re very a lot conscious of Aaron’s issues and have been working with him (and his agent Dave Dunn) to resolve them. We stay dedicated to Aaron in 2021 and past. He isn’t solely a tremendously gifted participant, however has developed into a real chief for us. The connection that Aaron has cast with Matt and the opposite offensive coaches has propelled us to the brink of the Tremendous Bowl in two straight years. We sit up for competing for one more Tremendous Bowl championship with Aaron as our chief.”
Could 1, 2021: Yahoo! Sports activities’ Charles Robinson studies that Rodgers’ subject is primarily with Gutekunst, the Packers’ GM, who allegedly didn’t inform the QB of the Jordan Love choose beforehand and initially supposed to maneuver on from Rodgers after the 2020 season. Rodgers is “adamant,” Robinson writes, that he “will not return to the staff below the present stewardship of … Gutekunst, and that he is keen to weigh hardline choices at his disposal — from refusing to indicate up for offseason actions to holding out of coaching camp and probably retirement.” Gutekunst downplays the report back to ESPN, denying that Rodgers has “stated something like that to me” or “publicly.”
Gas to the hearth
Could 5, 2021: ESPN’s Rob Demovsky studies the Packers are upset with the 49ers and Broncos for allegedly contacting Rodgers to gauge his curiosity in enjoying for them, a would-be violation of the NFL’s tampering guidelines.
Could 5, 2021: Brett Favre as soon as once more says he touched base with Rodgers, and this time believes the QB is extra more likely to sit out than return to the Packers, as instructed to ESPN’s Wilde & Tausch and on his personal podcast: “I do not see him coming again and … if it isn’t resolved, or even when it is resolved however he looks like they’ve one up on him, he ain’t gonna play. Understanding Aaron, he would sit. Now, he would forgo some huge cash, however he is additionally bought quite a bit cash … His rift is not with the followers, nor the gamers; it is with the entrance workplace. So will he swallow his delight and are available? Possibly, however I do not see that taking place. If there’s not a commerce, my intestine tells me he’d quite sit out than play.”
Could 5, 2021: The Athletic’s Bob McGinn studies that Rodgers has privately referred to GM Brian Gutekunst as Jerry Krause, the previous Chicago Bulls GM who was infamously disliked by Michael Jordan, in group chats with teammates. McGinn additionally says Rodgers has, in latest months, turned down provides by the Packers to make him the NFL’s highest-paid QB, as a result of the “fractured relationship” goes past cash.
Could 6, 2021: ESPN’s Adam Schefter studies the Packers have begun exploring different QB additions amid the Rodgers uncertainty, doubtlessly eyeing competitors for — or depth behind — Jordan Love.
Could 6, 2021: NFL Community’s Mike Garafolo studies Rodgers was telling potential Packers free brokers again in March — and maybe way back to the 2020 season — that he was unlikely to return to Inexperienced Bay in 2021.
Could 6, 2021: Former Packers fullback John Kuhn, a teammate of Rodgers from 2007-2015, tells CBS Sports activities Radio the QB’s future in Inexperienced Bay remains to be up within the air: “I’ll say he is conflicted. As a result of this man likes to play the sport of soccer, this man likes to be a Inexperienced Bay Packer and this man really sees careers — he is watched associates go away, he watched Brett Favre’s profession towards the top. He is watched all this stuff play out in entrance of his eyes, he is taken notes all through his total profession, he is seen some conditions that did not really feel had been executed or completed the best way that they might or ought to have, and he is simply attempting to take his personal future inside his personal fingers.”
What comes subsequent?
As many have identified, a decision to the Rodgers drama is most definitely to come back after June 1. That is when the QB’s contract turns into much more amendable to a commerce. If Inexperienced Bay had been to deal the QB earlier than then, his departure would web them simply $5.6 million in 2021 financial savings, whereas a post-June 1 deal would save them an immediate $22.85 million.
Do the Packers plan to deal him, although? No. All indications are they don’t plan to take action. However there is a distinction been plans and actuality. Whereas Rodgers can be shedding cash by holding out or briefly retiring so as to speed up a transfer from Inexperienced Bay, sooner or later the Packers must weigh the advantage of retaining Rodgers in opposition to the public-relations cloud of their star QB refusing to swimsuit up. Rodgers has performed good and performed his half earlier than (see: 2020), however all indicators are he is extra convicted than ever about controlling his NFL future.
CBS Sports activities contributor Joel Corry, a former agent and cap knowledgeable, believes the Packers’ solely resolution for appeasing Rodgers (with out a commerce or GM change), in all probability requires two actions: 1.) Buying and selling Like to “de-commit” from Rodgers’ inheritor obvious; and a couple of.) Extending Rodgers on a market-resetting deal by means of at the least 2025. In any occasion, Corry does not foresee Inexperienced Bay deviating from its obvious authentic plan of turning the keys over to Love — and thus gaining added monetary flexibility — by 2022. In different phrases, if a real and deep dedication from the Packers is what Rodgers needs, it is extra doubtless that he’ll in the end wind up elsewhere.
And the place that is perhaps? The 49ers can safely be counted out of the combo now that they’ve added their QB of the long run in Trey Lance. Although a handful of NFC groups would certainly inquire, it is also unlikely Inexperienced Bay would ever conform to preserve Rodgers within the convention. That in all probability leaves the Broncos and Raiders as logical locations, with Denver overtly hungry for much more QB assist (and a historical past of massive swings; see: Manning, Peyton) and Las Vegas providing each a coach and GM who adore Rodgers, in addition to a metropolis nearer to the QB’s California residence and obvious off-field leisure pursuits.