Aaron Rodgers has spent the 15 seasons of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers. Team management believes it will continue to exist for “quite a long time.” Coach Matt LaFleur expects him to be “the leader of this soccer team” for “a long time.” But none of Rodgers’ public hugs in recent months has influenced the quarterback’s opinion of his future in Green Bay. Speaking to Kyle Brandt for The Ringer on Tuesday, Rodgers made it clear that he plans to end his career with someone other than the Packers.
“I think that’s probably what happens, you know, depending on the circumstances surrounding everything,” Rodgers told Brandt when asked if Green Bay will ultimately decide to leave or keep Jordan Love in the first round of 2020 in the dock. “Just look at the facts. They traded, recruited, they obviously like it, they want to play it.”
Fresh out of a trip to the NFC Championship, Rodgers, 36, is technically under contract with Green Bay until 2023. But considering he hopes to play until he’s 40, he knows the Packers will at some point be forced to choose between him. and Love, who was ranked 26th in the state of Utah in April.
“And I get it, really,” he said. “I have no ill will about it. Like, was I discouraged? Of course. Who wouldn’t be? I wanted to play my whole career at Green Bay. I loved the city. I grew up there … But look, I get it. I see it completely clear, and I’m not bitter about it. It just is what it is. “
Rodgers has shared similar thoughts before, saying he was surprised by the Packers’ decision to take a QB so early but that he understands the commercial side of the NFL. However, his latest comments are closest to all, but he does offer an early farewell to Green Bay.
To meet his expectations, Rodgers argued that the Packers have more incentives to play Love than to play it in 2005, when Green Bay used a first round at Rodgers, while Brett Favre was still the renowned starter. The Pack was 10-6 and lost its first playoff game the year before, he noted, while the 2019 Packers were 13-3, winning a postseason game at home and nearly reaching the Super Bowl. The Pack also allowed Rodgers to drop on his laps in 2005, he added, while this offseason, “they traded and recruited Jordan.”
On draft night, Rodgers explained, he calculated this reality for the first time.
“When (they exchanged) … I was thinking about which receiver could be there at the time,” he said. “So when they changed … I got a little bit excited … I wasn’t excited about the choice, especially being a game away from the Super Bowl and feeling like we’re a couple of players away. At the same time, I understand which is a business … I poured myself some tequila and FaceTimed and spoke to a group of people that night.
“And the next day I called Jordan,” he said. “Because I just wanted to make sure he knew that I knew what he was thinking. The last thing you want to deal with is any negativity about realizing a childhood dream.”
