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

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I know most of us love the Bucks but the majority of Packers fans that reside north of like, I dunno, Fond du Lac, don't really care about the NBA. There are loads of them that "refuse to support athletes who XYZ." I think Rodgers over-estimated the fans taking his side, but I also think there will be more than enough people willing to fill Lambeau Field and give him a standing ovation and continue to demand we go out and trade for Hopkins, Julio and Mike Evans because it's the least we can do to serve our great king.

[brewcrewdue80]

Reports of Rodgers declining the Packers offer of a 2-year extension which would make him the highest paid player in the NFL. Just rumors right now but they look to be true.

 

Screw Adam Schefter. He has crapped on WI sports teams on NFL draft day, and Milwaukee hosting game 6 of NBA finals with a chance to clinch. What a tool. He's surpassed hate of Stephen A Smith doing these tweets about "leaked information".

[MrTPlush]

I’d say a good majority of Packers fans/Wisconsin residents past about an hour or two from Milwaukee don’t care what the Bucks do.

 

While most Wisco sports grab a lot of fans from all corners of the state, the Bucks are most definitely a city team…not a state strong team. If I find an NBA fan towards northern Wisconsin (pretty rare) chances are it isn’t the Bucks.

 

I was picking up food at a bar for Game 2 or Game 3 and the bar didn’t even have the game on.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I’d say a good majority of Packers fans/Wisconsin residents past about an hour or two from Milwaukee don’t care what the Bucks do.

 

While most Wisco sports grab a lot of fans from all corners of the state, the Bucks are most definitely a city team…not a state strong team. If I find an NBA fan towards northern Wisconsin (pretty rare) chances are it isn’t the Bucks.

 

I was picking up food at a bar for Game 2 or Game 3 and the bar didn’t even have the game on.

 

I'm in Janesville, (about 70 minutes from MKE), and they said Bucks gear was allowable for Tuesday for a "casual" day, and conservatively, 70% of the people at work had Bucks shirts/t-shirts/jerseys on, except for the front office people, who are stuffy losers. For most of the playoffs since we took out the Nets, the Bucks have been pretty heavily talked about by most of the "sports fan" folks I work with.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I’d say a good majority of Packers fans/Wisconsin residents past about an hour or two from Milwaukee don’t care what the Bucks do.

 

While most Wisco sports grab a lot of fans from all corners of the state, the Bucks are most definitely a city team…not a state strong team. If I find an NBA fan towards northern Wisconsin (pretty rare) chances are it isn’t the Bucks.

 

I was picking up food at a bar for Game 2 or Game 3 and the bar didn’t even have the game on.

 

I'm in Janesville, (about 70 minutes from MKE), and they said Bucks gear was allowable for Tuesday for a "casual" day, and conservatively, 70% of the people at work had Bucks shirts/t-shirts/jerseys on, except for the front office people, who are stuffy losers. For most of the playoffs since we took out the Nets, the Bucks have been pretty heavily talked about by most of the "sports fan" folks I work with.

 

I'm 20 miles north of Milwaukee, and I split season tickets in the late 90's/early 2000's. I don't currently and I don't ever remember owning any Bucks clothing. I don't think I've worn any Packers clothing since 1998 either. 40% of my wardrobe is probably Brewers related though.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I’d say a good majority of Packers fans/Wisconsin residents past about an hour or two from Milwaukee don’t care what the Bucks do.

 

While most Wisco sports grab a lot of fans from all corners of the state, the Bucks are most definitely a city team…not a state strong team. If I find an NBA fan towards northern Wisconsin (pretty rare) chances are it isn’t the Bucks.

 

I was picking up food at a bar for Game 2 or Game 3 and the bar didn’t even have the game on.

 

I'm in Janesville, (about 70 minutes from MKE), and they said Bucks gear was allowable for Tuesday for a "casual" day, and conservatively, 70% of the people at work had Bucks shirts/t-shirts/jerseys on, except for the front office people, who are stuffy losers. For most of the playoffs since we took out the Nets, the Bucks have been pretty heavily talked about by most of the "sports fan" folks I work with.

 

I'm 20 miles north of Milwaukee, and I split season tickets in the late 90's/early 2000's. I don't currently and I don't ever remember owning any Bucks clothing. I don't think I've worn any Packers clothing since 1998 either. 40% of my wardrobe is probably Brewers related though.

 

Lack of supply had been an issue in the past with Bucks gear. When the new ownership group took over it was one of the things they noticed immediately and mentioned with the Journal Sentinel. They got to Milwaukee and couldn't find a shirt for their team.

[CheezWizHed]

I’d say a good majority of Packers fans/Wisconsin residents past about an hour or two from Milwaukee don’t care what the Bucks do.

 

While most Wisco sports grab a lot of fans from all corners of the state, the Bucks are most definitely a city team…not a state strong team. If I find an NBA fan towards northern Wisconsin (pretty rare) chances are it isn’t the Bucks.

 

I was picking up food at a bar for Game 2 or Game 3 and the bar didn’t even have the game on.

 

Article from 2019 shows by county the preferred NBA team. WI is split with the far North and West going to the Timberwolves (which is a bit embarrassing frankly). Of course, after winning a championship, I'm sure that green/gray will change with WI being full green and maybe a bit of MN.

https://www.inc.com/nick-devlin/nba-fan-map-vivid-seats-marketing-strategy.html

 

The Bucks are certainly WI's third favorite pro team and there would be far more fans in MKE itself. But growing up in NW Wisconsin, there still are plenty of fans. Ensuring people have access to watch the games is probably a bigger issue as even seeing the games up north was rare. I don't subscribe to Bally Sports, so I'm not sure where the WI coverage happens vs the MN coverage... And I don't think there is a NBA.com option like there is for MLB.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't find it all that embarrassing. Illinois has the same thing going on with the Pacers leaking into southeast Illinois and southwest Ohio. They're not very densely populated areas and have a lot of people who are from the other state. Plus, I'm sure a good amount of people in that neck of the woods do their big nights out in Minneapolis, not Milwaukee. The NBA has always been a league driven mostly by major metros.

 

The area I vacation in almost every summer in South Jersey, you can't find any sign of Jersey sports there. It's Philly everything, in every sport too.

[CheezWizHed]

What you said is all true... but its the Timberwolves...

 

Back when Garnett was there, they had some respectable teams. Since he left, they've been a laughing stock. Jimmy Butler was right...they are soft. Marshmallow soft. Even if we could somehow acquire KAT, I'm not sure I'd want him. Living in MSP area... no one here "likes" the team. They might attend a game here and there, but not really "fans". I attended a Bucks game here in 2019 and we cheered louder.

[MrTPlush]

Without asking the people making up the map I can almost guarantee from living close to that area at one point it is dominated by the T-Wolves for one main reason: It is people transplanted from the Twin Cities and they can easily sway those counties to the T-Wolves because NBA interest is just that low in those areas. There really aren't many Bucks fans to compete with the Twin Cities transplants. Those maps can be a bit goofy sometimes though. Aren't they usually based on Facebook account likes? The Brewers map is the entire state of WI (except the four that border Twin Cities area) plus one Michigan county.

 

Not sure how the TV deals work that far to the border. When I lived by Eau Claire/Chippewa you got both FS channels. The bordering counties may only get one.

[SomewhereInTime]

I mean I would think a bigger driving factor to being a fan of a team is how far away from them you are located, not as much state lines. If I live one hour away from Milwaukee it's easier to be a fan of Milwaukee teams as I can reasonably go attend a game when I want to. When it's a 4 to 5 hours away it's much tougher.

[MrTPlush]

I mean I would think a bigger driving factor to being a fan of a team is how far away from them you are located, not as much state lines. If I live one hour away from Milwaukee it's easier to be a fan of Milwaukee teams as I can reasonably go attend a game when I want to. When it's a 4 to 5 hours away it's much tougher.

 

I think this becomes a much bigger deal when a state only has one team. All of the Wisconsin sports have very loyal in state fans. The Packers probably help lead that charge and the Brewers also have a very strong following even when into NW WI.

[CheezWizHed]

I used to live down by LaCrosse and could watch both MN and WI teams. My in-laws in NW Iowa got the same. But that changed at some point and you only get one.

 

I would imagine the Green Bay Packer map in the 1980s would have similar issues (Vikings in North/West and Chicago in the south). But Favre and Co changed that pretty heavily. Likewise with the Brewers in the 90s and Twins/Cubs fans. The Braun/Fielder teams turned that around somewhat along with Miller Park and a consistent winning team. Likely Giannis and this championship does the same for the Bucks.

[GreatNWwi]

There are four or so counties that are part of the Twin Cities media market on the border of MN which makes life difficult for getting any WI TV sports and TV news. We cannot even get WI stations from Eau Claire as our local channels in most locations with a few exceptions. We get both Bally North and Bally WI. While MLB has this area as a dual market so we get all Brewers and Twins games, the NBA has us as a Timberwolves market so Bucks games are blacked out. Even finding the Bucks on the radio locally is difficult.

 

As long as the Packers stay respectable to great we will get most of their games from the Twin Cities stations as long as they do not conflict with the Vikings schedule. The NFL has some goofy blackout rules that cause us to miss the Packers occasionally.

 

That being said, a trip to Milwaukee for a game is no big deal other than a bit of an investment in time and a hotel room. We are heading out at noon today for tonight’s Brewers game. But for me, I grew up in southern WI and lived in Milwaukee for five years so I have places that I like to visit as a bonus to the ballgame.

 

It is easy to be a Packer and Brewer fan, it takes work to be a Bucks fan from this location.

[patrickgpe]

talks with Adams has broken off and the 2 sides are "in a bad place"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008468-report-davante-adams-packers-break-off-new-contract-talks-sides-in-a-bad-place

 

I have been relatively positive during this, but its looking more and more likely that this whole thing is just going to get blown up.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

talks with Adams has broken off and the 2 sides are "in a bad place"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008468-report-davante-adams-packers-break-off-new-contract-talks-sides-in-a-bad-place

 

I have been relatively positive during this, but its looking more and more likely that this whole thing is just going to get blown up.

 

Really looking like 2021 might be a "one last ride" year. Then it's rebuild time, and hope that Jordan Love is the real deal. That's the way it is with the modern NFL. Dynasties are a thing of the past.

[SeaBass]

talks with Adams has broken off and the 2 sides are "in a bad place"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008468-report-davante-adams-packers-break-off-new-contract-talks-sides-in-a-bad-place

 

I have been relatively positive during this, but its looking more and more likely that this whole thing is just going to get blown up.

I can see a side where, if the franchise is moving on from Rodgers this season or next as it's looking like, sinking tons of money in a wide receiver approaching his 30's might not be the best use of resources. I love Davante, I want him signed, but I can also see a soft rebuild as a possibility. Maybe they franchise tag him and trade him, or tag him and play him. I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to overreact to the possibility of losing him.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

talks with Adams has broken off and the 2 sides are "in a bad place"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008468-report-davante-adams-packers-break-off-new-contract-talks-sides-in-a-bad-place

 

I have been relatively positive during this, but its looking more and more likely that this whole thing is just going to get blown up.

I can see a side where, if the franchise is moving on from Rodgers this season or next as it's looking like, sinking tons of money in a wide receiver approaching his 30's might not be the best use of resources. I love Davante, I want him signed, but I can also see a soft rebuild as a possibility. Maybe they franchise tag him and trade him, or tag him and play him. I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to overreact to the possibility of losing him.

 

I hinted at this a couple pages back. I could go either way on it, since the new QB could use Adams, and he's not really super dependent on speed or something that diminishes with age. He's more of a technician that has a chance to be really good well into his 30s.

 

Honestly though, the Packers have just kind of fatigued me. A decade of "almost" will do that. It's not working, you can blame who you want, but they can't finish. Change of the guard may be necessary at this point.

[xisxisxis]

The Packers offense did marginally better in the games Davante missed last year. That's not a ringing endorsement to throw craploads of money at him.

 

One upside to the poor drafting and roster construction of the late TT years was that there were fewer players the team needed to pay (or pay bigtime). They are likely to have more problems moving forward especially if they need to have the funds to throw at Rodgers to appease him. Can they realistically sign both to maximum contracts for their position? I don't see the math that gets them there without dumping a ton to get under the cap next year. A tag and trade would probably be the best option at this point.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

He missed two games against Atlanta and early New Orleans who was 1-2 at the time. I don't think that's even part of the discussion or thought process in extending him and it shouldn't be. He is probably the best WR in the league.

[reillymcshane]

Cap issues almost invariably undo most good teams - sooner or later. It's why you have to draft well. You need those guys who can contribute at a - relatively - cheap cost.

[homer]

They broke off talks with Aaron Jones and still signed him. The Hopkins contract and the Rodgers situation give Adams a lot of leverage right now. They can still do a deal after the season when they'll know better what's what.

[SeaBass]

Honestly though, the Packers have just kind of fatigued me. A decade of "almost" will do that. It's not working, you can blame who you want, but they can't finish. Change of the guard may be necessary at this point.

I understand this, I'm not sure I 100% agree, but there is definitely something to it. The Packers have had bad breaks not go their way. That's sports. Championship teams have the breaks go their way, the Bucks are an example of that. 2014, last season, those felt like Super Bowl teams, they just didn't get there. I don't think it's because of some flaw of the team, they just didn't make it happen and things didn't go their way.

 

But back to the fatigue comment, for me it's not fatigue but I find myself eager for the next incarnation of what the Packers will be. Maybe that's a feeling I will come to regret and I'm not even saying I think Jordan Love is going to be the answer. If it was my choice we wouldn't be going through the Rodgers drama, we'd be playing with him under center until he retires but that ship has sailed. I have this weird excitement for what's going to happen next, it could be awful but I'm hoping it's not.

[Fear The Chorizo]

talks with Adams has broken off and the 2 sides are "in a bad place"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008468-report-davante-adams-packers-break-off-new-contract-talks-sides-in-a-bad-place

 

I have been relatively positive during this, but its looking more and more likely that this whole thing is just going to get blown up.

 

If a "bad place" is where the cap-hamstrung team I root for doesn't want to make a soon to be 30 year old wide receiver the highest paid player for his position in the NFL when they have younger all-pro caliber players at different positions they need to take care of very soon (i.e., Jaire Alexander and others), than I'll happily be in that bad place.

 

I don't care how great Adams has been - you can't pay every veteran player approaching free agency the market extension in the NFL...particularly skill position players who have been in the league going on 8 seasons come training camp and during a two year period where the salary cap has actually shrunk due to COVID-induced revenue issues. Throw in the fact the guy who accounts for almost $40m of your 2021 cap allotment of ~$183M seems to be intent on making it as difficult as possible to effectively manage the roster in the short and medium term, and it's no wonder there's no chance for an extension before this season starts with Adams.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

His age is getting a bit too much play here IMO. He's 29 at FA, and he's not some barnburner with a 4.2 40 that relies on blowing past people. He's really a possession WR that runs crisp routes, and there are have been plenty of those guys still going strong around their mid 30s. Any contract they give him will give them an out probably around 32 or 33. I like what they have at WR, but they are going to be in a lot of trouble there if he walks. They should do what they reasonably can to keep him regardless of who the QB is. He was the same player with Brett Hundley.