An Aaron Rodgers Joke Is No Laughing Matter for 3 NFL Teams
The Green Bay Packers continue to navigate through a rocky offseason due to uncertainty around Aaron Rodgers. The star quarterback aired strong sentiment toward leaving the franchise this offseason, but the Packers haven’t budged. The unresolved matter has led to a running joke around the league involving Rodgers’ future.
Aaron Rodgers airs desire to leave the Packers
Since the end of the 2020 season, uncertainty remains around Aaron Rodgers’ future.
Things shifted into high gear before the 2021 NFL draft after news broke concerning his desire to leave the franchise. Although ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently broached the matter publicly, it’s a notion that has been in place for quite some time this offseason.
Rodgers had routinely expressed his interest in wanting to spend his entire NFL career in Green Bay. He had has also reportedly pushed for an extension in January, but that didn’t gather any significant traction. The Packers have also not done much in the way of adding more offensive talent around him this offseason.
As the uncertain chatter remains around Rodgers, an interesting sentiment has developed around the rest of the NFC North division.
An Aaron Rodgers joke is no laughing matter for 3 NFL teams
The Packers may not publicly acknowledge the severity of the situation, but the rest of the league does.
All eyes are on the blatantly obvious fractured relationship Rodgers has with the front office. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, it has led to a running joke that the rest of the NFC North should work together to facilitate a trade to move the three-time MVP out of Green Bay.
“Look at this record for Rodgers against the NFC North. The running joke among people I talk to is that the NFC North teams, Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, they should chip in draft picks to get Aaron Rodgers up out of there to another team so they could start winning more games,” Fowler said via Bleacher Report.
Rodgers has dominated the NFC North holding a 52-19-1 record in 72 regular season games. In those contests, the 37-year-old has 151 touchdown passes to 25 interceptions while holding a 107.3 passer rating and 17,805 passing yards.
Rodgers has at least 15 career wins against each NFC North opponent with single-digit career losses. He also has recorded more than 45 touchdown passes and holds a passer rating above 105.0 against each team. All that has given them more than enough incentives for the rest of the division to want him elsewhere.
Beyond that, the entire situation comes down to the Packers’ willingness to move their disgruntled quarterback.
Green Bay holds the final say
As much as Rodgers wants a new start elsewhere, the final say lies with the Packers.
Since the situation ramped up, the front office hasn’t budged from their desire to keep him. The team has doubled down that he is their future and voiced that their relationship is amendable.
Rodgers’ hard stance will be tested this offseason as training camp nears. His participation or lack of will be indicative of how he handles the situation.
It’s the first time in his career that he’s taken that approach. Rodgers wants to dictate how the next chapter of his career unfolds, and he may view this direction as the only means to accomplish that.
Time will tell what will unfold in Green Bay as the front office knows where their star quarterback stands.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football-Reference.
