4 Best Landing Spots for the Packers QB Aaron Rodgers in 2023
Aaron Rodgers is over the 2022 Green Bay Packers. The team is 3-6, and each week the team loses, the quarterback goes on the Pat McAfee Show and explains why it’s his teammates’ fault that they lost. It’s not his, it’s not the other team, it’s his fellow Packers. On the organization side, the Packers have been prepping for life after Rodgers since inexplicably drafting Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. It already looks like Love isn’t the answer, but the fact that the Packers are ready to move on seems undeniable.
At 38, Rodgers is nowhere near the quarterback he was even in his previous two MVP seasons. That said, he’s still Aaron Rodgers. And if Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, and Matthew Stafford have taught NFL fans anything, it’s that a fading superstar QB can still win it all on the right team. With that in mind, here are the four best landing spots for Aaron Rodgers when he and the Packers inevitably break up this coming offseason.
4. Tennessee Titans
Anyone who watched the Titans’ Week 9 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs knows that if rookie QB Malik Willis could have just gone 10-of-16 for 150 yards instead of 5-of-16 for 80 yards, the Titans would have won that game.
You know who can still go 10-of-16 for 150 yards in his sleep? Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers are trying to win this season with running, defense, and their QB making just a few big plays a game. The Titans are actually winning this season (and for the last several seasons) with running, defense, and their QB making just a few big plays a game.
Mike Vrabel is a no-nonsense coach who could make Rodgers fall in line instead of trying to run the ship himself, as it seems like he’s been doing in Green Bay under Matt LaFleur the last few seasons. This move would be better if the team still had AJ Brown, but there’s enough talent there that Rodgers’ veteran savvy could make a difference.
3. Las Vegas Raiders
You know what QB/WR duo was awesome? Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. You know what QB/WR duo kind of stinks? Derek Carr and Davante Adams. How about reuniting the former duo in the desert with the Silver and Black?
Giving Carr arguably the best set of offensive weapons in the league simply served to expose the signal-caller as the mediocre quarterback that he is. Sure, plenty of the blame can go to Josh McDaniels, but with a better QB, maybe Mcdaniels’ play-calling looks a little better.
Whether it is with McDaniels or a new coach, reuniting Rodgers and Adams with the Raiders could produce big results. Add in Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, and Rodgers would have more skill-position weapons than he’s ever had in the past.
The money may be tricky in this situation with Rodgers’ and Carr’s contract, but if an NFL GM can’t figure out how to massage the salary cap and kick the cap problems down the road a few seasons, he doesn’t deserve to have the job.
2. New York Jets
History seems to repeat itself in Green Bay. The Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and after three seasons on the bench, the team shipped incumbent QB Brett Favre off to the New York Jets to make way for the young signal-caller.
The 2023 offseason would be three seasons of Joran Love on the bench, and what better way to bring things full circle than by trading Rodgers to the Jets just like his predecessor?
The Jets are a shocking 6-3, but that’s despite the quarterback play from 2021 No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson. Gang Green is stacked on both sides of the ball right now after the emergence of 2022 top picks Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, and Sauce Gardner.
Rodgers could walk right into the Meadowlands and, for a season or two, make the two annual Buffalo Bills-Jets games the hardest-fought rivalry in the NFL.
1. San Francisco 49ers
Sing it with me, “I’m coming home/I’m coming home/Tell the world, I’m coming home.”
Aaron Rodgers to his hometown(ish) San Francisco 49ers wouldn’t be ideal for the Packers. They would surely prefer to ship him to the AFC. However, it would be an incredible fit for the aging QB to play out his career less than three hours southwest of where he played high school football.
The 49ers also spent a lot of draft capital on Trey Lance and Christian McCaffrey, but just think of Rodgers with Kyle Shanahan’s offense, McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk.
The Rodgers-Packers marriage would probably have to get so toxic that the franchise would take pennies on the dollar for their future Hall of Fame QB to get him to the Bay Area. If John Lynch could get it done, though, the 49ers would be one of the best teams in the league for the next two seasons.
