What Can the Green Bay Packers Do About Aaron Rodgers?

Read Time:2 Minute, 55 Second

GREEN BAY- The Packers have to figure what they’re going to do about the most important position on the depth chart, quarterback. The Packers recently signed Blake Bortles as a contingency plan. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t happy after the team drafted Jordan Love out of Utah State in the 2020 draft. Rodgers could’ve reacted differently if the team advised him that they planned to draft a quarterback to develop into the future starter. What can the Packers do at this point?

The Packers best bet would be to try to work things out. Love isn’t necessarily ready to step in as the starting quarterback and Bortles never played up to his full potential, to put it mildly. Perhaps it is as easy as reminding Rodgers he’s still the number one quarterback for the 2021 season and nothing will change that. Perhaps Rodgers will still play and not force the Packers to trade him by sitting out. Although there’s a possibility of Rodgers sitting out, it seems unusual for an elite starting quarterback to decide to avoid playing. If Rodgers remains on the roster for week one of the 2021 regular season, it would be very odd to not see him on the field at all. How often do elite quarterbacks with top salaries decide to sit out an entire regular season or part of it just to force a trade?

Why would Green Bay wait until after the NFL draft to trade the superstar quarterback? Nothing about that seems logical. The Packers could’ve at least made an offer to Jacksonville and drafted Trevor Lawrence if they believed Rodgers didn’t want to play. Jacksonville would’ve likely rejected it but San Francisco might have accepted a trade offer. San Francisco could’ve parted ways with the third overall pick or Jimmy Garrapolo. Right now, the possibility of trading Rodgers seems much lower than in April. Most teams have their quarterbacks in mind. Any team that would consider Rodgers would have to give up a lot to make such a deal happen. The Packers would have to get an even haul in return and a trading partner would have to clear salary-cap space to make it happen anyway. This would’ve been an easy conversation in April. This is virtually impossible in late May. Teams made their free agency signings and draft picks. It seems that Rodgers will remain with the Packers for the 2021 season.

What teams would consider trading for Rodgers? The Denver Broncos and Washington Football Team come to mind right away. However, the Raiders could trade Derek Carr for Aaron Rodgers all of the sudden. It would be an odd trade but getting Carr in return would be a good asset in return. It’s also logical considering Carr played with receiver DeVante Adams before. Denver might not want Drew Lock running the offense and Washington could be one of the teams that call the Packers about Rodgers’ availability considering Dwayne Haskins isn’t on the team. Washington could look for a new quarterback since Alex Smith retired. However, Washington might decide to start either Kyle Allen or Taylor Heinicke

Although there is a lot of talk of Rodgers being on another team, it would take a lot for Green Bay to trade their franchise quarterback. They’ll likely get nice draft pick compensation and possibly another quarterback to Rodgers’ place. The Packers probably won’t get a first-round pick but the team could easily obtain a second-round pick and more.