After Aaron Rodgers spilled the beans to The Athletic about his final years of the Green Bay Packers, there could be more drama on the way.
Aaron Rodgers is no longer the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers following a trade to the New York Jets. Just when you thought that this would bring an end to the drama between the quarterback and the Packers, the NFL world was reminded no, that won't be the case.
This past week, Rodgers spoke with The Athletic's Matt Schneidman about his final years with the Packers. He discussed the team's decision to draft his successor in Jordan Love and his relationship with general manager Brian Gutekunst.
Then, Schneidman reported that back in 2021, Rodgers' agent had requested Packers president Mark Murphy to either fire Gutekunst, or trade the quarterback elsewhere. This was quite the bombshell interview by Rodgers.
In the latest edition of The MMQB's takeaways, Albert Breer says that after the publication of The Athletic piece, he guesses that this is "just the beginning" of more drama between Rodgers and the Packers.
Prepare for more back-and-forth drama between Aaron Rodgers and the Packers
"The hard truth is this is just how it goes with these sorts of situations, and probably how it was always going to go with Rodgers. The PR turf war between the Patriots and Tom Brady raged for a couple of years, all the same as we've heard more details drip out on Peyton Manning's departure from the Colts (which was a little less ugly, because of Manning's injury and the presence of Andrew Luck in that year's draft) over the years.
"So how does this end? The Packers will either win or lose with Love. The Jets will either get to a Super Bowl with Rodgers or they don't. In the meantime, we'll hear more from both sides of the story. And it'll all end a few years from now, with a ceremony to put Rodgers's name up on the wall at Lambeau. Right alongside the name of another quarterback, in Brett Favre, who was no stranger to sort of spat Rodgers finds himself in now."
As Breer brings up, this kind of thing happened when Tom Brady left the New England Patriots and Peyton Manning left the Indianapolis Colts. But with how open Rodgers is in expressing how he feels about certain topics, there is going to be a ton of attention on the comments that he and the Packers make.
Additionally in his interview, Rodgers spoke about the team failing to sign wide receiver Davante Adams to a contract extension and deciding to trade him to the Las Vegas Raiders, reports from Schneidman that the team wasn't thrilled with the quarterback's "commitment and effort," and how both he and Gutekunst viewed their communication with one another this offseason.
Rodgers is now with the Jets, becoming the best option the team has had under center for many, many years. With that, he is expected to help them win their second Super Bowl title. As for the Packers, they will see if Love can be their long-term option. Down the line, with the power of hindsight, we'll see who got the better end of the trade between Rodgers and the Packers.
