Some quarterbacks work to keep their teams together. Aaron Rodgers reportedly has done the opposite.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that, dating back to last season, Rodgers was telling the team’s prospective free agents “before you make any decisions, I’m probably not gonna be there.”
That didn’t stop tackle David Bakhtiari or running back Aaron Jones from re-signing with the team. But money talks, and both got plenty of it to stay. The question of whether they actually stayed doesn’t matter; the point is that Rodgers did the exact opposite of what most quarterbacks do.
He didn’t try to get other players to stay. He likewise didn’t opt for the neutrality of saying nothing. If the report is accurate -- and there’s no reason to believe it isn’t -- Rodgers tried to undermine the team’s best interests by putting them under the impression that he was on the way out the door.
It’s the latest evidence supporting the notion that Rodgers actively has been working to sabotage the team for which he has played since 2005. He created an issue that required at least three trips by member of the team’s brain trust to California since the end of the 2020 season, in a failed effort to resolve his concerns at a time when the men who made the trips surely had better things to do. Then, he strategically launched a major distraction hours before the draft, a distraction that grew and grew until it culminated in the news that Rodgers wants the man running the Green Bay draft to be fired.
Packers fans understand the nuances of the NFL better than most fans. Packers fans -- especially those who own stock in the team -- could soon realize the significance of the things Rodgers reportedly has been doing. Thus, Packers fans could soon turn on Rodgers just as hard as they turned on Brett Favre.