Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers Won’t Attend Packers’ OTAs

May 24th, 2021 at 12:23pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers kicked off their organized team activities on Monday. As expected, Aaron Rodgers was not among those in attendance (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky).

Historically, Rodgers has been on hand for voluntary work. But, in recent weeks, he’s told those close to him that he wants out. For their part, the Packers say he’s staying put.

“We still obviously feel the same way,” head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this month. “We want him back in the worst way. I know he knows that. And we’ll continue to work at it each and every day.”

They can try, but Rodgers seems to be sticking to his position. The Broncos and other clubs have been keeping a watchful eye on the situation with the hope that the Packers’ asking price will come down a bit. It’s been speculated that the Packers want at least two first-round picks, a second-rounder, and perhaps even a quality young quarterback.

Offseason work goes from voluntary to mandatory on June 8th, with minicamp running through June 10th. Rodgers has already lost out on $500K in bonuses by staying home — that number will quickly top $1MM if he abstains from minicamp and training camp.

For cap purposes, a Rodgers deal would need to be a post-June 1st thing anyway. With mandatory activities rapidly approaching, we should know a lot more soon.

AFC Rumors: Broncos, OBJ, Ravens, Mack

May 23rd, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Deshaun Watson still has significant off-field issues to surmount before being in the clear to resume his career, but the embattled Texans quarterback’s deposition is not set to take place until after the 2021 season ends. This could put Watson on track to play this season, though our Rory Parks noted a Commissioner’s Exempt List stay may well enter into this equation. The Broncos were once a clear suitor for the Pro Bowl quarterback. Now, their focus has shifted. They prefer an Aaron Rodgers trade to waiting out the Watson saga, according to NFL insider John Clayton of 104.3 The Fan. Far and away the clubhouse leaders in Rodgers rumor mentions, the Broncos are planning to make an aggressive pursuit of the reigning MVP — if the Packers make him available for a trade. While Rodgers has not come out and said he wants to leave Green Bay or indicated where he would like to go, the Broncos were on his reported wish list from the start. The future Hall of Fame passer indeed wants to be traded to the Broncos, Clayton adds. Rodgers is not expected to show up for the Packers’ minicamp next month, according to Madison.com’s Jason Wilde.

Although we still appear a ways away from true trade talks, the June 1 date after which a Rodgers deal becomes less financially constraining for the Packers is approaching. Shifting to players already in the AFC, here is the latest from the conference:

Tavon Young has become one of the NFL’s most injury-prone players, and the Ravens may have selected his heir apparent in Shaun Wade this year. The former early-round Ohio State prospect is expected to begin his career in the slot, and Young is not yet 100%. ACL tears sidelined Young for all of 2017 and 14 games last season, and he missed all of the 2019 season due to a neck ailment. Baltimore DC Don Martindale said Young has not been fully cleared from his latest round of ACL rehab, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com tweets. Young has missed an astounding 47 games over the past four seasons. Thanks to restructuring Young’s contract, the Ravens would be tagged with more than $9MM in dead money over the next two years were they to cut the veteran corner after June 1.
Better news may be coming out of another AFC North contender’s headquarters. Odell Beckham Jr. has resumed sprinting after suffering an ACL tear last November, and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer expects the Pro Bowl wideout to be in the Browns‘ Week 1 lineup. Beckham’s injury may have helped keep him in Cleveland, depressing the trade market for the talented wideout who has yet to truly take off with the Browns. Trade rumors have followed Beckham in Cleveland, but he is set to return at a $14.5MM salary this season.
In more injury rehab news, the Colts had Marlon Mack back on the field this week. Mack did not participate fully in Indianapolis’ OTA sessions this week, but Stephen Holder of The Athletic notes the fifth-year running back was available for part of the voluntary workouts (subscription required). Mack sustained a torn Achilles in Week 1 last season. He re-signed with the Colts on a one-year, $2MM deal, pointing to optimism the former fourth-round pick will be ready to go to start this season.

Packers To Insist On QB As Part Of Aaron Rodgers Trade?

May 16th, 2021 at 11:34am CST by Rory Parks

As of the time of this writing, the Packers have given no public indication that they are planning to capitulate to Aaron Rodgers‘ trade demands. Given the state of the relationship between Rodgers and the team, however, Green Bay brass has certainly had internal conversations about what such a seismic trade would entail.

The Broncos have been the club most closely connected to a Rodgers trade, and early speculation has suggested that Denver (or any team for that matter) would need to part with at least two first-round choices, a second-rounder, and perhaps a quality player. As Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, the Packers will also require their trading partner to send a QB back to Green Bay.

After all, Rodgers’ new club can reasonably be expected to make a postseason run with the three-time MVP under center, so any draft picks that the Packers acquire would presumably come at the end of a given round. And rumor has it that Green Bay does not believe 2020 first-rounder Jordan Love is ready to become the full-time starter just yet, so it makes sense that the club would insist on having another signal-caller be part of a trade package.

On the other hand, there aren’t many teams that are in a position to trade for Rodgers but that also have a quarterback that Green Bay would consider a worthy replacement for the face of its franchise. The 49ers were an obvious fit before they drafted Trey Lance, and while San Francisco could perhaps be persuaded to deal Jimmy Garoppolo in a separate trade with Green Bay, or as part of a three-team swap, the Niners are now out of the Rodgers sweepstakes.

The Raiders are on Rodgers’ list of preferred destinations, and Las Vegas signal-caller Derek Carr is a quality player who is under contract at a reasonable rate through 2022. Since the Raiders play in the AFC, it seems the foundation for a trade is there, but a Rodgers-Jon Gruden marriage is presently considered unlikely.

The Broncos, meanwhile, are rostering Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, neither of whom appear capable of leading the Packers to a championship. So even though Denver has the cap space and desire to make a Rodgers deal work, it’s unclear if Green Bay considers the Broncos a viable partner.

Per Silverstein, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has indicated he will work with Love as though he will be the starter for now, but LaFleur didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of the Utah State product, and he recently indicated he wants Rodgers back “in the worst way.”

Aaron Rodgers Believes Packers Promised To Trade Him?

May 14th, 2021 at 2:32pm CST by Rory Parks

A number of factors have contributed to Aaron Rodgers‘ frustration with the Packers: the selection of Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft, the team’s overall approach to the wide receiver position, and Rodgers’ own contract situation are just a few of those factors. And, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Rodgers apparently believes Green Bay promised him he would be traded, only to renege on that pledge.

Hours before this year’s draft, veteran NFL broadcaster Trey Wingo reported (via Twitter) on the Packers’ alleged reversal, and now Florio is also hearing that Rodgers is under the impression the team has gone back on its word. If that really happened, his anger would be understandable, but as Florio observes, no one from Rodgers’ camp has communicated Rodgers’ belief to the Packers.

For their part, the Packers are adamant that they made no such promise to their star signal-caller, and they say that any reports to the contrary are “unequivocally false.” And in a press conference today, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur said nothing has changed with respect to the team’s view of the matter. “We still obviously feel the same way,” LaFleur said (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network). “We want him back in the worst way. I know he knows that. And we’ll continue to work at it each and every day.”

We recently heard that the team is “deflated” about where things stand at the moment, which makes it sound as if the Packers are bracing themselves for a Rodgers departure. But Green Bay still has plenty of leverage here. If the club refuses to deal Rodgers, the 37-year-old passer would miss out on his $14.7MM salary for 2021 and the $6.8MM roster bonus that was earned earlier this offseason — but that hasn’t been paid out yet — and he would also have to pay back $23MM of unearned signing bonus money. Rodgers has earned $240MM from his Packers contracts alone, to say nothing of his endorsement deals, so it’s unclear if the financial ramifications of a holdout would be enough to make him change his mind.

In the meantime, the club has added Blake Bortles to the quarterback room. Bortles could theoretically open the season as Green Bay’s starting QB if Rodgers is traded or refuses to play and if the team does not believe Love is ready to take the reins.

Rodgers Latest: Broncos, Raiders, Carr

May 11th, 2021 at 6:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Three weeks away from the June 1 date when an Aaron Rodgers trade becomes financially realistic, the Packers have not deviated from their anti-trade stance. The parties’ impasse, however, continues to lead to noise within the AFC West.

Although the Packers shut down Rodgers trade inquiries during the first night of the draft, which came hours after the reigning MVP’s desire to leave Green Bay surfaced, the Broncos began discussing the level of offer it would take to acquire Rodgers at that point, James Palmer of NFL.com notes (video link).

Some within the Broncos organization view a Rodgers trade as a realistic possibility, Palmer adds. The team has the combination of cap space — second-most in the NFL, behind Jacksonville — along with a promising group of young pass catchers and a glaring quarterback need. While this would be a historically unusual trade, given Rodgers’ talent and age, early prospective proposals have included two first-round picks, a future second-rounder and at least one notable player. The Broncos have four starter-caliber wide receivers and, having drafted Patrick Surtain II ninth overall, can match that at cornerback. Though, the team is not viewed as being especially open to including its recent first-round pick in any potential offers.

It is not clear yet if the Broncos have any stiff competition for Rodgers, in the event his stalemate with the Packers leads to true trade talks. The Browns are not interested in ditching Baker Mayfield, and a trade to an NFC team would certainly be less palatable for the Packers. Rodgers-Raiders connections have been surprisingly scarce since Las Vegas was mentioned as a preferable destination for the 16-year veteran.

Jon Gruden has said passing on Rodgers in 2005, when he was the Buccaneers’ head coach and selected Cadillac Williams fifth overall, is one of the greatest regrets of his lifetime. It would stand to reason the Raiders would pursue Rodgers, given Gruden’s annual flirtations with potential Derek Carr upgrades. However, the Gruden-Carr relationship may have improved to the point the passer can be somewhat comfortable in Vegas. Gruden is currently “very happy” with Carr, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com notes, adding that a trade for Rodgers can be viewed as unlikely.

Carr, 30, has posted back-to-back top-11 QBR finishes since 2019 — something Rodgers did not do, though he did lead the league in the metric in 2020 — and has a manageable contract that runs through 2022. It would be a surprise if the Raiders were not at least in the mix for Rodgers, but it certainly sounds like the Broncos are closer to making a legitimate offer for the disgruntled superstar.

Contract Notes: Bucs, Rodgers, Rudolph, Pats

May 11th, 2021 at 1:07pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve got a handful of interesting notes on contracts to pass along, including for several quarterbacks:

The Buccaneers’ quarterbacks room is a bit crowded now with Kyle Trask getting drafted in the second-round. One of Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin will be the odd man out, since Bruce Arians won’t be keeping four signal-callers. “Their new contracts tell you who’s ahead” in the competition to hold Tom Brady‘s clipboard in 2021, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Auman reports that Gabbert got $1.5MM in guaranteed money, $750K in base salary and a $750K signing bonus. On the other hand, Griffin only got a $75K signing bonus guaranteed. Gabbert has always been Bruce Arians’ guy, while Tampa’s front office has loved Griffin enough to keep him around since 2015. If these financial figures tell us anything, and they usually do, it’s that Gabbert will be back for the title defense while Griffin won’t be.
The language of Aaron Rodgers‘ contract is going to get a lot of attention if his current beef with the Packers turns into a real holdout. Rodgers earned a $6.8MM roster bonus on the third day of the league year, but he hasn’t actually received that money yet since it’s to be “paid concurrently with his 2021 base salary,” former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry tweets. Corry notes that Green Bay has “the right to take fines & any recapture of signing bonus due to a training camp holdout from this money.” There was talk of Rodgers having to pay back that $6.8MM, but it turns out he hasn’t even gotten it yet. The Packers can start chipping away at that the moment he doesn’t show up for mandatory practices.
One last quarterback note. Mason Rudolph recently got a one-year contract extension from the Steelers to keep him under team control through 2022, and it turns out the team gave him some real money. Rudolph’s new pact with Pittsburgh is worth $5MM for the 2022 season, which included a $2MM signing bonus, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. As Kaboly points out, Rudolph is the only passer the team has under contract for 2022. Rudolph hasn’t exactly looked like a franchise quarterback in his nine career starts, but with Ben Roethlisberger‘s status more than uncertain beyond this year, it makes since why the Steelers would want to make sure they have someone at least somewhat competent under center just in case.
When Trent Brown got traded from the Raiders back to the Patriots, he reworked his contract from having two years and $29.5MM left to a one-year pact for $11MM. Turns out that new one-year deal has some interesting details. The massive offensive tackle’s contract has a series of weight-based incentives, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes. The 6’8 behemoth will have earned $150K if he weighed “385 pounds or less on the first day of the offseason program (April 19).” Brown will have an opportunity to earn another $150K if he clocks in at or below 375 pounds on June 1, and another $200K for 365 pounds on July 15. That’s a total of a half million bucks in weight-based incentives. Brown was with the Patriots for one season back in 2018, and won Super Bowl LIII with the team.

Browns Won’t Pursue Aaron Rodgers

May 9th, 2021 at 11:57am CST by Zachary Links

Aaron Rodgers wants out and plenty of teams figure to chase the Packers star. However, the Browns won’t be among them, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer (Twitter link).

Some have speculated that the Browns could upgrade from Baker Mayfield to the reigning MVP. That won’t be happening, because the Browns are “ecstatic” about Mayfield’s progress in 2020, which culminated in their first playoff win since the ’99 reboot. Meanwhile, the Packers see Jordan Love as their future solution under center, which means Mayfield wouldn’t make much sense for them.

The Packers star looked as sharp as ever last year, but the Browns prefer the long-term upside of their 26-year-old passer to the 37-year-old. Meanwhile, Rodgers is looking for a multi-year pact to reflect his most recent performance. The Browns were happy to exercise Mayfield’s option worth $18.858MM for 2022. Beyond that, the Browns will be willing to furnish Mayfield with $30MM-$35MM per annum if he stays on course. And, no matter where Rodgers lands, he’ll want something in the neighborhood of Dak Prescott‘s $40MM/year deal.

Latest On Packers, Aaron Rodgers

May 6th, 2021 at 2:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the full-on stalemate between the Packers and Aaron Rodgers did not surface until last week, it has simmered throughout the offseason. Rodgers appears to have prepared teammates for his departure before that.

Following the Packers’ Jordan Love pick, Rodgers wondered if his plan of finishing his career in Green Bay was realistic. During the 2020 season, the decorated quarterback informed Packers free agents-to-be he was unlikely to play for the team in 2021, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes (video link).

The Broncos, Raiders and 49ers surfaced last week as acceptable Rodgers destinations, and he is believed to have briefed those teammates of this list of teams, per Garafolo. This did not end up leading to a Packer exodus, however. Longtime Rodgers blindside blocker David Bakhtiari signed a record extension to stay in Green Bay in November, and Aaron Jones agreed to a new deal just ahead of free agency. Of course, money obviously played the central role in these big-ticket deals. But both cornerstone Packers signed despite potentially knowing they could be playing for a team in transition in 2021.

Rodgers’ former teammates, however, are split on the notion he will leave. James Jones and John Kuhn do not believe this situation has passed the point of no return. The 37-year-old QB wants the Packers to better position themselves for a Super Bowl, per Jones, who added that Rodgers does not need GM Brian Gutekunst to be fired to return (Twitter link). Kuhn, who has spoken with Rodgers since this impasse became public, said the quarterback’s appreciation for the Packer franchise and his having seen Brett Favre‘s messy exit has caused him to be “conflicted” regarding his own apparent exit strategy, via J.R. Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Favre, on the other hand, sees his ex-backup as entrenched in his position. The future Hall of Famer should not be expected move to mend the rift between he and team management, per Favre, who said during an appearance on ESPN Wisconsin’s Wilde & Tausch (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com) he expects Rodgers to be elsewhere next season. Rodgers sitting out the season would be preferable to his returning to the Packers under unfavorable circumstances, Favre adds. Rodgers has also spoken with Favre since this matter became public, having replied, “I’ll touch base with you after all this is over,” to a Favre text.

The Broncos have emerged as the team most closely connected to the three-time MVP thus far, and prospective trade packages are surfacing. Two first-round picks and a second should be required for the Broncos to land Rodgers, league sources informed Denver7’s Troy Renck, who adds the team would likely need to give up at least one key player in the deal. While Denver now has surpluses at wide receiver and cornerback, with Courtland Sutton set to return from injury and the team loading up at corner this offseason, Renck notes the team will likely fight to keep first-round pick Patrick Surtain II out of a prospective trade offer. Of Denver’s four top corners, Surtain certainly profiles as the highest-value player.

Packers Say Broncos, 49ers Tampered With Aaron Rodgers

May 5th, 2021 at 11:32am CST by Zachary Links

The Packers believe that the 49ers and Broncos have contacted Aaron Rodgers to gauge his interest in playing for them, according to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky. That would classify as tampering, though the Packers have not filed a complaint with the league office.

In order to file a successful claim, the Packers would need clear evidence of the illicit contact. Short of that, there isn’t much the Packers could do to bark back at the Broncos, Niners, or any other club that may have chatted with the MVP quarterback. Years ago, the Chiefs were docked draft picks for talking to Jeremy Maclin while he was still a member of the Eagles. But, for the most part, tampering is fairly common in the NFL and rarely punished.

Meanwhile, Rodgers hasn’t been shy about his issues with GM Brian Gutekunst. The QB wants Gutekunst fired and he’s even poked fun at him with friends, according to Bob McGinn of The Athletic. In group text threads, Rodgers has referred to the Packers exec as Jerry Krause – the late Bulls GM who may have prioritized his ego over the continued success of the team.

When the two sides were talking, the Packers offered to make Rodgers the highest-paid QB in the league, according to McGinn. Of course, those numbers don’t mean much in the NFL without guarantees to match, and= Rodgers wants the bulk of his money locked in.

Broncos To Aggressively Pursue Aaron Rodgers?

May 4th, 2021 at 8:04pm CST by Rory Parks

Speculation that the Broncos could push to acquire Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers began to swirl in advance of last week’s draft, though Ian Rapoport of NFL.com indicated that such chatter was overblown. However, subsequent reports suggested that a Rodgers-to-Denver deal could still happen, and those rumors are not going away.

The feeling around the league is that Rodgers will not return to the Packers, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini (video link). Russini adds that Packers brass is “deflated” about the direction this is heading. The team has continued to try and put a good face on the situation and insists that Rodgers will be back in Green Bay in 2021, but that feels like a dubious proposition at this point. And if the Packers ultimately cave and deal the three-time MVP, Russini hears that the Broncos will be the most interested and will present Green Bay with the strongest offer.

Although the Broncos recently acquired Teddy Bridgewater in a trade with the Panthers and are rostering 2019 second-rounder Drew Lock, it’s hard to imagine either player piloting a championship club. The rest of the roster, though, looks strong, and adding Rodgers would immediately make Denver a threat to win the AFC, just like Peyton Manning did nine years ago. So it’s easy to envision GM George Paton doing everything in his power to make that happen.

One way or another, Russini confirms that if a trade is consummated, it will not take place until after June 1, due to the salary cap ramifications. Of course, in addition to those cap concerns and negotiating the best possible deal with the Broncos or any other club, the Packers must also consider their own on-field product. After all, they came devastatingly close to winning the NFC last year, and they will return much of that successful roster in 2021. So will the team be comfortable passing the baton to Jordan Love, the 2020 first-rounder who is at the epicenter of the Rodgers-Packers rift?

Maybe not. Albert Breer of SI.com gets the sense that Green Bay does not necessarily believe Love — who was always considered a developmental prospect — is ready to take the reins. It’s unlikely that there will be any starting-caliber QB options on the free agent or trade markets, so assuming Love is truly not prepared, the Packers will really be in a bind if they can’t mend fences with Rodgers.

In addition to the Love issue, there are other factors contributing to this Spring of Rodgers’ Discontent, one of which is rather surprising. Rapoport says that the “death knell” of the relationship was when the team cut WR Jake Kumerow last September, right after Rodgers publicly referred to him as one of the team’s most reliable receivers (video link). Though Kumerow became something of a cult hero during his time in Green Bay, it would be odd for his release to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but such is the enigma of Rodgers. For what it’s worth, Kumerow ultimately appeared in six games in 2020, all with the Bills. He recorded one catch for 22 yards.

Rapoport also confirms that Rodgers was hoping for an extension that would cement his status as the Packers’ starter until he chooses to retire, and that he wants a say in personnel decisions. Veteran NFL reporter John Clayton says that the team’s overall approach to the wide receiver position (and not just Kumerow’s apparently calamitous release) has also played a major role in the impasse. Although GM Brian Gutekunst has only been the team’s top decision-maker since 2018, Green Bay’s first choice in each of the last 10 drafts was used on a defensive player, and Rodgers’ frustration has reached the breaking point.

Former NFL agent Joel Corry offers a two-pronged approach by which the Packers might placate Rodgers. The first step, Corry says, would be trading Love, and the second would be giving Rodgers the extension he wants. Rodgers has three years remaining on his current contract, and while it’s exceedingly rare for a team to authorize an extension for a player who is still under club control for three seasons, the Cardinals did provide a blueprint for such a maneuver when they extended DeAndre Hopkins last year.

As Corry notes, Rodgers will want to top Patrick Mahomes‘ record $45MM AAV, and that would mean adding $90MM of new money over a five-year term (the three years on his current deal plus a two-year extension). Ultimately, though, Corry doesn’t believe the Packers will go that route, because he does not believe the team wants to deviate from its original plan of having Love succeed Rodgers when the time is right. Unfortunately for Green Bay, Rodgers might be forcing the team to throw Love into the fire before he’s ready.

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