Report: Rodgers wants new contract (Update: May not want to return in 2021)

[MrTPlush]

Probably isn’t different than any other relationship in life. If the trust is that broken even if he gets what he said he “wants” it may still be hard to commit to continuing on.

 

And as was mentioned before there really is no rush for Rodgers to figure it out and make a decision. Seems somewhat logical to take you time, look at what the Packers have said/offered, and make a decision quite a while from now.

[SeaBass]

I'm trying to figure out the demands Rodgers might have when it comes to reconciliation with the Packers. Reportedly they've offered him a contract that has the money and years to commit themselves to Rodgers as he supposedly wanted. We don't know how many years but from reports it's long enough to neutralize the "move on to Love" hurdle that most believe Rodgers had an issue with.

 

So if that aspect is solved, and who knows maybe the offer was made and then rescinded after he reportedly turned it down, you'd think not but nobody can really know for sure, but assuming the contract offer stands what else does he want?

 

Perhaps he's asked for a no trade clause? Again that's been talked about and really no team would trade for him if they got wind he didn't want to be there, so that seems moot.

 

Firing Gute? I think that's been debunked a bit but might still be an issue with Rodgers.

 

Could he be demanding some type of player move? I'm not sure what's out there to be had but what if it's a Julio Jones trade as some have speculated? Is that even possible if the Packers give Rodgers the contract they've reportedly offered?

 

Does he want Love off the roster? Possibly but that all comes back to again not exactly lining up with what people are saying, that it's not Love's presence that bothers him, it's that the team could move on and with a new contract that issue goes away.

 

So what is it? What's the pound of flesh standing in the way of Rodgers and the Packers ending the standoff? Anyone else have ideas?

 

Maybe he just wants to make them sweat for as long as possible before agreeing to return. That kind of seems on brand to be honest.

 

I guess these are what everyone wants to know.

 

The Packers say they offered to make him the highest paid QB or something like that. But what does that mean? It could be a salary of $60M for 2023 - which would technically make him the highest paid QB when you average out his deal. But in reality, there's no way they'd keep him for that salary. It's just bogus year stuff.

 

No matter, I'm guessing he's got a laundry list of petty snubs that he's going to give them - and they'll have to address things in a satisfactory sort of way. But that's just a guess. In the end, who really knows. I still find it mind boggling that things could get to this spot. I mean, they knew he was frustrated by things a year ago. It's called sitting down and figuring out how to make it work. Of course, Rodgers probably sat there and waited for the Packers without helping out with direction is him passive aggressive fashion. But that's the teams job to figure this kind of thing out.

Right, I've thought of the short contract too but I've heard the terms "dollars AND years" attached to the contract offer, the money does mean something but it's the years that tie the Packers to Rodgers commitment wise. Now maybe the Packers only want to add the equivalent of 3 guaranteed seasons of commitment and Rodgers wants more. That is a more realistic hold up than maybe any other scenario.

[GAME05]

If he really wants to play into his 40s, maybe there's also a demand that the contract be extended so that he's guaranteed to be a Packer for life and wouldn't have to go through all this again in three more years.

[Underachiever]

so what do they do? Commit more dollars to AR and make him a higher percentage of the cap? Then turn around and cut four starters? Let Jaire walk in a year? Setting up to be a pyrrhic victory.

[brwrsfan]

so what do they do? Commit more dollars to AR and make him a higher percentage of the cap? Then turn around and cut four starters? Let Jaire walk in a year? Setting up to be a pyrrhic victory.

 

We really don't know what AR wants. Does he want to be the highest paid? Would he be willing to take a more team friendly deal from a salary standpoint BUT something that has guaranteed money for the next 4-5 years that insures he's going to be a Packer as long as he wants? Does he want both?

 

We really don't know (though I'm assuming the guaranteed money is for sure on his list).

[pacopete4]

Guarantee him to the starting QB for 10 more years if he wants. But don’t kill the cap doing it. There is no more point in that. Need to be able to sign successful draft choices and dip into free agents when time is right.

[PeaveyFury]

Guarantee him to the starting QB for 10 more years if he wants. But don’t kill the cap doing it. There is no more point in that. Need to be able to sign successful draft choices and dip into free agents when time is right.

 

But I think that's the heart of Underachiever's question- what is Aaron actually looking for here? Either you're forced to tie up the cap in an aging, currently still elite QB, or you try to restructure to give more freedom now but create a disaster a bit further down the line. It's really a lose-lose situation for the Packers. The only way you can actually 'guarantee' anything is to basically eliminate any outs you may have on his contract, thus creating a mess at some point.

[JosephC]

Not suggesting that I want Rodgers to be traded, but would something like this be a reasonable deal?

 

Denver gets-

QB-Aaron Rodgers

 

Green Bay gets-

WR-Jerry Jeudy

TE-Noah Fant

OL-Dalton Risner

LB-Josey Jewell

2022 1st round pick

2023 1st round pick

 

Jewell is probably the only player out of his group that has hit his upside. Jeudy and Fant both former first rounders who would give the new QB (Love or otherwise) a couple young targets with upside to throw to. Risner fits at either guard spot or right tackle, so far has 32 starts and I think all of them have been at LG (too lazy to go back and confirm). Jewell is an unspectacular but solid starting linebacker, the oldest of these players but is still only 26 years old. Jewell is only under contract for one more season, the other three are controlled for at least two more seasons.

 

When looking at player performance, contract, length of control and potential upside, I'm guessing the Broncos have Bradley Chubb and Justin Simmons as the top two players they would not want to deal (certainly could be easily debated). But if so, the Broncos keep their top two in this trade, which when trading for a stellar player the quality of Rodgers, IMO makes this a fair deal from their end.

[Underachiever]

Guarantee him to the starting QB for 10 more years if he wants. But don’t kill the cap doing it. There is no more point in that. Need to be able to sign successful draft choices and dip into free agents when time is right.

 

But I think that's the heart of Underachiever's question- what is Aaron actually looking for here? Either you're forced to tie up the cap in an aging, currently still elite QB, or you try to restructure to give more freedom now but create a disaster a bit further down the line. It's really a lose-lose situation for the Packers. The only way you can actually 'guarantee' anything is to basically eliminate any outs you may have on his contract, thus creating a mess at some point.

Right. I assume-ASSUME-the front office knows what Rodgers wants. I certainly have no idea. I just don't see any good outcomes, except Aaron getting over it and saying, "My bad. We hugged it out. Respect my decision!" Because anything less will not make the questions, and the narrative around it, go away. This whole thing is so weird.

[homer]

Not suggesting that I want Rodgers to be traded, but would something like this be a reasonable deal?

 

Denver gets-

QB-Aaron Rodgers

 

Green Bay gets-

WR-Jerry Jeudy

TE-Noah Fant

OL-Dalton Risner

LB-Josey Jewell

2022 1st round pick

2023 1st round pick

 

Jewell is probably the only player out of his group that has hit his upside. Jeudy and Fant both former first rounders who would give the new QB (Love or otherwise) a couple young targets with upside to throw to. Risner fits at either guard spot or right tackle, so far has 32 starts and I think all of them have been at LG (too lazy to go back and confirm). Jewell is an unspectacular but solid starting linebacker, the oldest of these players but is still only 26 years old. Jewell is only under contract for one more season, the other three are controlled for at least two more seasons.

 

When looking at player performance, contract, length of control and potential upside, I'm guessing the Broncos have Bradley Chubb and Justin Simmons as the top two players they would not want to deal (certainly could be easily debated). But if so, the Broncos keep their top two in this trade, which when trading for a stellar player the quality of Rodgers, IMO makes this a fair deal from their end.

 

I am guessing that Denver would rather give up picks than players. So pick one of Jeudy or Fant and replace them with a draft pick.

[MrTPlush]

Any team would have to be absolutely insane to trade for Rodgers and then send any kind of offensive weapon back in return. Then you consider they are former first rounders...yah, that ain't going to fly.

 

The first key to trading for a disgruntled Rodgers is not ticking him off right out of the gates. You would be lucky if he doesn't just restart the circus in Denver at that point.

[DHonks]

Guarantee him to the starting QB for 10 more years if he wants. But don’t kill the cap doing it. There is no more point in that. Need to be able to sign successful draft choices and dip into free agents when time is right.

 

But I think that's the heart of Underachiever's question- what is Aaron actually looking for here? Either you're forced to tie up the cap in an aging, currently still elite QB, or you try to restructure to give more freedom now but create a disaster a bit further down the line. It's really a lose-lose situation for the Packers. The only way you can actually 'guarantee' anything is to basically eliminate any outs you may have on his contract, thus creating a mess at some point.

 

That's my concern. Rodgers has had one superstar season and 3 sub-par seasons recently. Was last year like Braun's 2019?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I never really bought the narrative that any of Rodgers's skills had eroded in the years prior to last. That's also just not even accurate. He was lighting the league on fire again in 2017 and then got hurt. 2018 was arguably the worst Packers team during his tenure, and he was good in 2019, just not MVP. Those sub-par seasons are kind of laughable because they get most guys on the radar for being top QBs.

 

I'm not arguing he played fantastic football in 18-19, but it seemed to be more of him just getting away from fundamentals, and trying to do everything alone, then losing any kind of ability. I just haven't seen that happen.

[bjkrautk]

I never really bought the narrative that any of Rodgers's skills had eroded in the years prior to last. That's also just not even accurate. He was lighting the league on fire again in 2017 and then got hurt. 2018 was arguably the worst Packers team during his tenure, and he was good in 2019, just not MVP. Those sub-par seasons are kind of laughable because they get most guys on the radar for being top QBs.

 

I'm not arguing he played fantastic football in 18-19, but it seemed to be more of him just getting away from fundamentals, and trying to do everything alone, then losing any kind of ability. I just haven't seen that happen.

 

His ability to connect on the deep ball (one of his best skills) was severely lacking in 2019, at least as I remember it. Is it possible the receivers he was throwing to (particularly MV-S) dropped a few more than they would have in other years? Possibly, but my recollection is the missed throws weren't really catchable balls. (Is there a "Next Gen Stat" which can track that sort of thing?) It is really the critical difference between last year and the ones which came before, and why I do think there was a real case for Aaron's skills declining when the Packers drafted Love.

 

The real question is whether this off-season will give him the same chip on his shoulder that he thrives on.

[PeaveyFury]

His ability to connect on the deep ball (one of his best skills) was severely lacking in 2019, at least as I remember it..

 

This is how I remember it as well. I have a couple of specific memories from games I attended where he missed open receivers downfield and I thought that he used to be able to make those throws 99/100 times.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There was an extended period of time where his footwork had become noticeably worse and everything just seemed "off" whether it was trust problems, happy feet, or whatever. What I never saw was noodle arming, loss of athleticism, etc., that other aging QBs hit a brick wall with later in their career.

[rickh150]

There was an extended period of time where his footwork had become noticeably worse and everything just seemed "off" whether it was trust problems, happy feet, or whatever. What I never saw was noodle arming, loss of athleticism, etc., that other aging QBs hit a brick wall with later in their career.

 

He lost running skills... no where near as quick or fast.

Also, it’s amazing how wide open guys can be when the running game is working.

Still amazingly good at 37... can’t play better than last season... impossible.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There was an extended period of time where his footwork had become noticeably worse and everything just seemed "off" whether it was trust problems, happy feet, or whatever. What I never saw was noodle arming, loss of athleticism, etc., that other aging QBs hit a brick wall with later in their career.

 

He lost running skills... no where near as quick or fast.

Also, it’s amazing how wide open guys can be when the running game is working.

Still amazingly good at 37... can’t play better than last season... impossible.

 

I dunno. He's slower at 37 than he was at 27, but he is still plenty mobile. Favre was pretty quick on his feet when he was younger but he wasn't winning any foot races at 37. Favre was always incredibly elusive but not really mobile. The physical decline in Favre was a lot more noticeable, even though he was still able to be very productive overall.

[MrTPlush]

Rodgers has honestly kept his speed pretty good for a 37 year old QB. He can still make a 20+ yard scamper or pick up first downs with his feet. A big deal compared to a Manning or Brady who was/is pretty much toast outside of the pocket.

[stoutdude04]

There was an extended period of time where his footwork had become noticeably worse and everything just seemed "off" whether it was trust problems, happy feet, or whatever. What I never saw was noodle arming, loss of athleticism, etc., that other aging QBs hit a brick wall with later in their career.

 

This. I would watch games and he seemed to rely on his strong arm far too often. Last year, especially at the beginning of the season, it looked like he got his feet under him and that seemed to help his accuracy a good deal. It did seem like his footwork faded a bit towards the end of the year a few times.

[pacopete4]

He did mention on the Pat McAfee show that he had seen some things on film that he changed. He did not get specific after the season but there was a noticeable difference for him last season.

[CheezWizHed]

I think early in the season (or whenever the improvement was evident), he mentioned that his footwork had changed over the years, so he focused on his leg and core conditioning to improve that footwork again.

 

And obviously, he was having accuracy issues the last couple years. Beyond the change to his deep ball, he had some VERY odd throws in the 10-15yd range where he was throwing the ball 5 ft over Lazard's head (at least one throw I remember, but he had others that were similar); Just very un-Rodger's like.

 

For me, I'd guess that his accuracy changes were a red flag that he might be "falling off the cliff". Maybe he was performing as a lesser QB's best season, but there were some stark changes from Rodger's norm also. Maybe if he had fixed it earlier, Love might never have been drafted...

[OldHeidelberg]

I think early in the season (or whenever the improvement was evident), he mentioned that his footwork had changed over the years, so he focused on his leg and core conditioning to improve that footwork again.

 

And obviously, he was having accuracy issues the last couple years. Beyond the change to his deep ball, he had some VERY odd throws in the 10-15yd range where he was throwing the ball 5 ft over Lazard's head (at least one throw I remember, but he had others that were similar); Just very un-Rodger's like.

 

For me, I'd guess that his accuracy changes were a red flag that he might be "falling off the cliff". Maybe he was performing as a lesser QB's best season, but there were some stark changes from Rodger's norm also. Maybe if he had fixed it earlier, Love might never have been drafted...

 

There was a stretch in 2019 where he looked nearly as good as last year, it was when Adams was out. I am not sure if teams just adjusted to the new offense or he got too focused on Adams when he was back but we were actually talking MVP candidate at one point that season as well. 2018 is another story...

[rickh150]

Rodgers runs for that TD against Tampa- you know the one- when he’s 27.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Rodgers runs for that TD against Tampa- you know the one- when he’s 27.

 

He really doesn't. He didn't run on that play because he wasn't even close to having a path to the end zone. The initial TV shot was somewhat misleading, but Patrick Mahomes isn't scoring on that play by running.