Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is expected to play in 2023, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (video link). Fowler cites the ~$60MM balloon payment that Rodgers is due between March and the start of the 2023 regular season as a motivating factor for the four-time MVP, and assuming he does want to suit up, Green Bay will have to decide if it wants him back or wants to seek a trade.
The club’s top power brokers, GM Brian Gutekunst and HC Matt LaFleur, have publicly indicated they want Rodgers back in Wisconsin, which could — in Fowler’s estimation — force Jordan Love to request a trade. The 2020 first-rounder believes he is ready to become a QB1, and as he is entering the final year of his rookie deal, now would be a good time for him to get that chance.
Here are more QB rumors from around the league:
- In the same piece linked above, Fowler says that the Derek Carr sweepstakes will start to heat up as we get closer to the Super Bowl. Carr, whose contract with the Raiders includes a no-trade clause, is beginning to do his homework on possible landing spots, and Fowler hears (unsurprisingly) that the Jets, Saints, and Commanders are expected to have interest. Several clubs have already reached out to Las Vegas to lay the groundwork for trade talks.
- Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will be eligible for an extension when Cincinnati’s season comes to an end, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that the club wants to get a new deal done this offseason. A Burrow extension will be hugely expensive, and owner Mike Brown and Burrow himself acknowledged the challenges that such a deal creates for roster construction (via Ben Baby of ESPN.com). Of course, the Bengals will have to operate within the same salary cap confines as every other team in the league, but as Rapoport observes, the small-market franchise does have more cash on hand these days thanks in large part to the success that the team has enjoyed with Burrow under center.
- In a comprehensive piece that is well-worth a read for Colts fans, a piece that details owner Jim Irsay‘s increasingly impulsive decision-making and the ensuing fallout, Zak Keefer of The Athletic (subscription required) says that Irsay wanted to draft and develop a rookie QB in the 2021 draft. However, then-head coach Frank Reich convinced Irsay that he could resuscitate Carson Wentz‘s career. When that experiment went awry, Irsay began to lose faith in Reich, who apologized to his boss for his misstep. The team again opted for an established passer last offseason when it engineered the Matt Ryan trade, and in light of that failure, Adam Jahns of The Athletic (subscription required) believes Indianapolis is finally going to eschew the veteran QB route. The Colts, armed with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, are in prime position to select a top collegiate signal-caller and could trade up to land the player of their choice.
- Dolphins GM Chris Grier recently confirmed reports that Tua Tagovailoa will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2023, as Daniel Oyefusi of the Miami Herald writes. Grier says the medical professionals he has consulted have told him that the concussions Tagovailoa suffered this season will not make him more prone to concussions going forward. He also said “everything’s on the table for us” when asked if the team would exercise Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option for 2024 and/or engage in extension talks.
- The Jets may keep 2021 first-rounder Zach Wilson on the roster in 2023, but the team is widely expected to pursue a veteran like Carr or Rodgers to upgrade the quarterback position. Apparently, that will be a welcome development for some of Wilson’s teammates and coaches, who “rejoiced” when Wilson was benched in favor of Mike White in November and who were disappointed when Wilson was reinserted into the lineup following White’s rib injuries (via Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic (subscription required)). Regardless of whether Wilson’s apologies to his teammates in the wake of his failure to accept much blame for his poor performance in New York’s Week 11 loss to the Patriots helped him regain the respect of the locker room, the consensus seems to be that he is not the passer who will guide the Jets back to the playoffs.
of course the $60mm is motivation for Rodgers…it’s all he plays for, the money and MVP awards.
Love Gronk calling him out valuing MVP awards over the SB.
That was great, and even though I get tired of both Gronk and Rodgers in the news, that quite deserved more press.
This means neither you nor Gronk saw the whole quote.
At the beginning of his answer he said “There’s no point in coming back if you can’t win it all”.
Then he said he can still win the MVP in the right situation.
Just watch the interview, you’ll be enlightened.
People would rather read headlines unfortunately.
Read the article USA Today:
link to ftw.usatoday.com
But keep backing Aaron. Such a good guy.
“Do I still think I can play?” Rodgers said. “Of course. Of course. Can I play at a high level? Yeah, the highest. I think I can win MVP again, in the right situation. Right situation, is that Green Bay or is that somewhere else, I’m not sure. But I don’t think you should shut down any opportunity. Like I said during the season, It’s got to be both sides like actually wanting to work together moving forward, and I think there’s more conversation to be had.”
as does every NFL player
and that time he won a superbowl..
I could care less about my job. I only go for the money.
Couldn’t
I find it very hard to fault anyone for wanting to keep playing if the reward is $60 million, even Rodgers.
Just SO tired of the annual “I don’t know if I wanna play” drama. The window to win a Super Bowl with Rodgers is barely open. A number of his buddies like Cobb will be gone so GB might as well move on from the diva too
He learned from the best. Brett Favre did the same thing
he had an insanely successful career while ignoring the petty critics?
agreed. Favre is all-time great
Carr is such a Ron R signing. An older vet that hasn’t amounted to squat. Perfect for him & DC.
I agree. He’ll keep that Washington QB carousel spinning. He’d be there 2-3 years tops.
My predictions:
Aaron Rodgers- stays in Green Bay
Jordan Love- traded to Carolina
Derek Carr- traded to the Hets
Colts- trade up for Bryce Young
Packers can just use transition tag on love to pay him what he’s worth in 2024.
his worth, determined by other teams, shouldn’t be too steep. I don’t see a ton of interest at a high price.
its not necessary to trade him and can keep him as successor even if Arodge plays another season in GB
Unless they can determine how effective Love will be as a QB1 without planning to let him take QB1 snaps, then this really doesn’t make sense.
I don’t see Rodgers accepting a timeshare plan.
If Rodgers comes back, they should trade Love and sign a veteran backup.
Rodgers? Practice?
you sure were talking about the same guy?
it’s a perfect opportunity for Love to get 1st team reps.
no reason to trade Love, like I said, the transition tag basically turns Love into an RFA in 2024 where Packers can match any offer sheet.
so if Love stays pined another season, then I really don’t see him getting an AAV over 18 mil for 3+ years, and Pack would match something in that range.
I think Love gets around 16.5 mil AAV if he sees limited action with limited results.. If he starts a lot and preforms well, then that # goes up to 25 mil and Pack move on from Arodge.
either way Packers are set , literally no reason to trade Love unless they’re wasting another Day 1 on a QB..
It might be necessary to trade Love if he’s going to be unhappy and a distraction. You think Rodgers would want to come back for that atmosphere, $60 million or not? I don’t.
I really don’t think Rodgers and his 60 mill will really care about whether Love is happy or not.
That’s fair, but I also don’t think he wants to deal with weekly drama of if/when Love takes over.
2021 QB draft was one of the all time flops. Wilson, Lance, Jones, and Fields are all fairly disappointing.
Tell us you don’t know football without telling us you don’t know football
All those quarterbacks are flops.
Way too soon to call Fields a flop.
Agree on Fields, and it’s also way too soon for Lance because of the injury. Wilson and, to a lesser extent, Jones are well on their way, but even they have plenty of time to turn it around. No player is a certain flop after only 2 seasons.
But so far, they are. Right? There are various degrees of flop, but I’d say all have under-performed.
I’ll give you Wilson….though he does great work with cougars.
Lance has been too hurt to judge and likely won’t ever get his job back in SF, so he’ll need another team.
Mac Jones had a great rookie year and took a step back in year 2, but way too early to write him off just yet.
Fields is a poor man’s Lamar Jackson. Glorified RB playing at QB but dude can’t throw worth a darn. With that said, you can def win with that. Also too early to write him off just yet.
So yeah, I’ll give you 1 bust so far in Wilson. That draft also had TL and Purdy who have done pretty dam well so far.
Wrong draft for Purdy, he was taken this year, but your overall point is solid.
Good catch….thanks
I agree with Monkey’s Uncle. Wilson may resuscitate his career, but as of now he’s the only one deserving of a bust label. I’m not high on Fields’ longevity, Jones is 50/50 right now (with a huuuge caveat that he got screwed by his team’s lunacy at offensive coordinator), and Lance is TBD. It’s more likely to me that Lance will turn bust than that he will turn successful, but we haven’t quite seen enough to definitively label him either way.
Packers should play Rodgers this year no trade, and then exercise Love’s 5th year option for 2024 and send Rodgers to retirement or a trade that year as well.
If Love shows up you can tag and extend if he doesn’t show progress you’re not on the hook for anything.
This is the answer
It’s amazing how Derek Carr is not good enough for Josh McDaniels and the Raiders but there is an active trade market for him. To include several clubs that have outlaid the groundwork for the trade.
Without Derek Carr the Raiders would not have been able to give up leads of 27, 24, 21, and 17.
I think moving on from Carr is more of an owners decision. Raiders home attendance is ugly. Davis is looking for a new leader to hopefully get fannys in seats?
Davis sucks as an owner. The Raiders do need new leadership, just not at QB. They need a new Owner, GM and Coach. That franchise will always and forever be a dumpster fire until it is sold.
I think Mark Davis is a very hands off owner. He puts people in place and lets them do their thing. He is not his dad and he knows it. People just need to get past the haircut and see what he is actually doing.
For example when three of the top front office executives were caught with “financial irregularities”…. Mark cleaned house and hired the Chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and former Commissioner on the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Mark also hired former Raider Marcel Reece to actually run the football operations.
Haha, um, not even close. He signed Gruden to a 10 year deal, huge mistake. Then signed McDaniels for far too much money so that he has to keep him at this point, and that’s been in the media.he wanted to get rid of Carr, he constantly pulls the strings and makes recommendations, and no, maybe they don’t all happen like his dad’s, but he needs to just shut up and own the team and let the professional coaches and decision makers do their jobs.
Mark decided some cleaning was needed after the house caught fire? I guess I’ve been under estimating how brilliant he is…lol.
Josh McDaniels is too smart for his own good too much of the time. But Jeff’s point about ownership and attendance makes sense too.
The Raiders blew 17 point leads three or more times in 2022. When was the 27/24/21 point lead(s) squandered ?
AR12’s best days are long gone. It’ll take $80 mil to carry two QBs.
Watch what goes on with the Green Bay QBs. During the week just past, Joe Namath told WFAN/New York that he’s willing to let the Jets un-retire #12 should they sign Aaron Rodgers. It’s a small but notable development that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves.
[That didn’t prevent the dying NY Daily News from running an anti-Jets hit piece that Mike Lupica piped on Saturday morning before the Giants got whupped in the playoffs on Saturday night.]
he’s willing to let the Jets un-retire #12 should they sign Aaron Rodgers. I
====================
Isn’t Rodgers due ~ $60M from GB? How would the NYJ sign him?
The one thing I can’t fault Rodgers for doing is waiting to see how management uses its 1st round pick. Seems like GM never gets Rodgers help in the 1st. They don’t draft a WR or an OL player, it wouldn’t surprise me if Rodgers demands a trade.