Report: Rodgers Spent ‘Days’ Discussing Packers’ Path
GREEN BAY, Wis. – After the Green Bay Packers were shocked by the San Francisco 49ers in last weekend’s divisional round, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he’d meet with general manager Brian Gutekunst, the rest of the front office and coach Matt LaFleur before deciding his future.
“I did not think we’d be talking about this after this game,” Rodgers said after a 13-10 loss to the 49ers meant an 11th consecutive season that ended short of the Super Bowl. “I’m going to take some time and have conversations with the folks around here and then take some time away and make a decision obviously before free agency or anything kind of gets going on that front. But it’s fresh right now. It’s a little shocking for sure. Definitely was hoping to have a nice week after the NFC Championship to enjoy the lead up and then start contemplating some things.”
Those meetings have taken place and the contemplating is under way. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
Sources say Rodgers stayed in the building for a few extra days to plot out the team's future, huddling with coach Matt LaFleur and others and mapping out what's next. It left those in the organization with confidence moving forward that Rodgers will return for the 2022 season.
Rodgers is the obvious fulcrum of an enormously important offseason for the Packers that will dictate the franchise’s near-term future. They are about $50 million over the salary cap, a figure that doesn’t include free-agent receiver Davante Adams. Rodgers said he’s not interested in being part of a rebuild but that’s exactly what it could be at receiver with Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown set to become free agents, Allen Lazard a restricted free agent and veteran Randall Cobb a potential cap-saving cut.
“There’s obviously a lot of decisions to be made,” Rodgers said. “There’s a lot of players whose futures are up in the air, so definitely will be interesting to see which way some of those decisions will go. I’ll have the conversations with Brian in the next week or so and get a little bit more clarity and think about my own future and how much longer I want to keep doing this.”
Assuming the 38-year-old Rodgers wants to continue playing, the next step will be determining if he wants to play in Green Bay or if he’d like to pursue a championship elsewhere – such as Denver. Either way, with a cap charge of $46.66 million that consumes about 22 percent of the team’s 2022 cap, Rodgers’ contract will be part of the solution to the team’s cap problems either via an extension or trade.
With Adams the highest-profile free agent on offense and De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas leading the free agents on defense, can the Packers keep enough of their key players to take a Super Bowl-contending roster into next season?
“That’s a fair question. Definitely one I’ve thought about,” he said.
There’s little doubt that the crux of Rodgers’ conversations this week involved Gutekunst’s plan to keep the 2021 roster as intact as possible to give it another shot in 2022. He also was probably interested in LaFleur’s plan with the coaching staff. LaFleur said the Packers want Rodgers back “to the day he decides to retire.” With a vastly improved relationship with Gutekunst, Rodgers might want that, too – but only if he’s got a chance to win.
“There are a lot of decisions to be made and key players, a lot of guys who played tonight. Proud of Z (Za’Darius Smith) coming back, Whitney (Mercilus) coming back from a torn bicep is incredible, the contributions we got from Dennis Kelly were outstanding.
"Obviously, Davante is the best receiver in the league, and he’s a free agent, knowing they can obviously tag him. Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, so many guys’ contracts are up or on the brink or salary cap stuff, so lot of decisions to be made. I don’t want to be part of a rebuild if I’m going to keep playing, so a lot of decisions in the next couple months.”
With the meetings out of the way, the ball now appears to be in Rodgers' court, with a decision to come before the start of the league-year on March 16 or even before the franchise-tag window opens on Feb. 22.
