GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly appearance and talked at length about his future in Green Bay.
While Rodgers said that everything was on the table, there’s a few factors he mentioned that will play into his decision whether he will return to the Packers, retire, or continue playing elsewhere:
- The direction of the Packers organization.
- How Rodgers feels like he fits in the organization’s future plans.
- His mental state of playing football and if he still has the same passion and drive.
- A feeling and grasp of the situation.
- What his fairy-tale ending is — which doesn’t necessarily mean a Super Bowl, but acknowledged how sweet it would be.
Rodgers noted that losing in the Divisional Round of the playoffs caught him off guard and was not preparing for a decision so quickly. He noted that communicating with loved ones, former teammates, and current teammates is crucial in making a decision.
Something that Rodgers’ mentor, Brett Favre, did in Green Bay was retire and return to the playing field. Although Rodgers didn’t mean any comments in ill-fashion to Favre, Rodgers talked about retirement.
“One thing I would 100% not do, is retire and come back a year later. I don’t have any desire to do that. That makes zero sense”, Rodgers said.
The relationship between Rodgers and Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst has been noted all throughout the last year. While Rodgers has come out publicly to acknowledge how much the two parties’ relationship have grown in the course of the last year, he showed his respect for Gutekunst and company during Tuesday’s show.
“I’m at the place, relationally, with the Packers — in a really good place. Especially with Brian [Gutekunst] and the way our friendship and trust has grown where it would be a simple conversation and whatever comes out of that conversation is moving forward. There’s not going to be any weird standoff, war of silence, or anything. Brian and I have had good conversations throughout the year and when it comes time to make a decision, we’ll have a conversation and that will be that”, Rodgers explained.
Rodgers did say that there was a time frame on his decision and knows that his decision does impact the Packers organization’s following moves ahead of the NFL Draft and free agency.
“I’ll definitely make a decision sooner, rather than later”, Rodgers noted.
While the Packers have many players heading into free agency this offseason, the biggest one is top wide receiver Davante Adams. Rodgers and Adams’ connection throughout their careers has been something that has taken the league by storm and Adams’ free-agent decision sure seems to weigh on Rodgers.
“There still is this thing called franchise tag which, I don’t think [Davante Adams] wants the franchise tag”, Rodgers said. “That decision on that, I believe, is in late February. I think that should be enough time to make a decision by then. I don’t want to put myself on a specific date. Again, I do want to be sensitive to Davante and many other guys who have their own decisions to make on their futures, and to drag it out past free agency would be disrespectful to the organization and those guys and that will 100% not happen”, Rodgers said.