The week of last year’s draft, reports emerged that Aaron Rodgers was unhappy with the Packers front office — setting off a saga that seemingly ended when Rodgers signed a contract extension in March.
The relationship between Rodgers and General Manager Brian Gutekunst has apparently been smoothed over, which is particularly important as Green Bay moves forward with a remade receiving corps.
Rodgers is not attending the Packers’ voluntary offseason program. But Gutekunst said he’s had plenty of conversations with the two-time defending MVP.
“I’m in pretty constant communication with Aaron,” Gutekunst said. “This is his downtime, and I know he enjoys that. But yeah, again, the specifics with what we talk about, I won’t get into. But it’s obviously carried over from what we’ve been doing for the last year and a half or so. “
The Packers have Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard back as established receivers, with the club also signing Sammy Watkins this month. Amari Rodgers is back for a second season as well. But with Davante Adams now in Las Vegas, the Packers are a clear candidate to draft (at least) a receiver in the first round of this year’s draft.
Whatever influence Aaron Rodgers may have over the draft process is unclear. But Gutekunst said the quarterback will be important in getting everyone going in the right direction.
“Aaron’s going to be heavily involved in the development of not only players who are in our building right now, but certainly whoever we bring in,” Gutekunst said.
The Packers have the No. 22 and No. 28 picks in the first round along with the No. 53 and No. 59 picks in the second round.
