Though Aaron Rogers hasn’t made any decision, the Packers appear ready to trade their longtime quarterback and an NFL insider revealed exactly why.
Almost no matter what happens, Aaron Rodgers is going to go into the NFL history books as one of the best quarterbacks the game of football has ever seen. Sure, he has only one Super Bowl ring to show for it, but his talent combined with production is undeniable. And yet, his time with the Green Bay Packers could come to an end this offseason.
We’re all anticipating Rodgers to make his decision after his recent return from a darkness retreat. Whether that decision is to retire, to want to stay with the Packers, or to demand a trade is still unknown at this point. Again, we’re all waiting.
Just about every sign to this point, however, has indicated that Green Bay is ready to move on from Rodgers. And while the 2022 campaign was highly disappointing, there still is a question of why the Pack would be willing to trade their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback now when they seemed less-than-keen on the idea just last year.
We have some answers on the matter.
Packers reasons for Aaron Rodgers trade revealed by NFL insider
SI NFL insider Albert Breer noted on Monday that the 2023 offseason is different than their hard-fought plight to keep him over the past two years. Instead, the situation has changed.
“They’re open to moving Rodgers,” Breer wrote. “They have questions on backside-of-their-prime vets such as David Bakhtiari, with some cap issues to work through. And where they were worried about Love’s development a year ago, they’re now seeing a guy capable of starting—at the very least—with considerable upside.”
That all plays into the bigger picture. The Packers have a succession plan they’re more confident in, they could free themselves from Rodgers’ massive cap hit to at least some degree, and they could start to reshape a younger roster.
As Breer noted, though, that last part of the process has been ongoing, even if it was to the chagrin of Rodgers at points. They haven’t bent over backward to make sure the quarterback got any and everything he wanted. They continued to build the team as they should and, with Rodgers now possibly departing, they would be better for those choices in the long run.
It should be said that the insider did make sure to mention that, if Aaron Rodgers wants to remain with the Packers, there is “merit” to Green Bay being fine with keeping him. After all, he is an all-timer. With that said, it’s also hard to argue with the organization’s reasoning as to why they’d be willing to move on as well.
