Obviously, NFL fans, especially Green Bay Packers fans, have been following along with the recent drama involving Aaron Rodgers. For the past few months, there has been a sort of will-he-won’t-he saga around Rodgers’ decision to continue to play for the Packers. Just this week, Rodgers announced that he will be with Green Bay for the 2021 season, and he even showed up for training camp.
However, not everything is that cut and dry. Yes, the 2021 season is safe. But Green Bay may have to accept an Aaron Rodgers loss for future seasons. ESPN recently reported a set of conditions that both the Green Bay organization and Rodgers agreed to. One of those terms included voiding Rodgers’ 2023 contract, which was his final contract with the Packers. Additionally, the new agreement assures that Aaron Rodgers won’t lose any money during his final seasons with Green Bay. Rodgers had voiced concerns that the team would adjust his income to put more money towards other players. That’s no longer a concern with this new agreement.
Now that everything is settled (for now) Aaron Rodgers is speaking out about exactly what caused the friction between him and the Green Bay organization.
Rodgers reported, during a post-training camp interview, that he approached the organization in February of this year to talk about having more input in personnel decisions. He said he wanted to be involved in free agency recruiting and even picking players in the draft. However, according to Rodgers, management kind of brushed his requests under the rug. As months progressed and managements didn’t make time for the conversations Rodgers was requesting, he grew more frustrated.
“As I felt like, if you can’t commit to me past 2021, and I’m not a part of the recruiting process and free agency,” said Rodgers. “If I’m not a part of the future, instead of letting me be a lame-duck quarterback if you want to make a change and move forward, then go ahead and do it.”
Aaron Rodgers Says He Contemplated Retirement
Eventually, Rodgers said that the Packers offered him more money. However, to him, it was about more than the money.
“To me, it was bigger than that,” said Rodgers. “I was about trying to be a resource for the organization that I care about and love so much.”
Aaron Rodgers said that, at one point, he even contemplated retirement.
“Nothing really changed throughout the summer. Obviously, there were some developments over that last week or so. But I was really just working on myself and my own mental state throughout the summer. At various points deciding if I even wanted to keep play.
Luckily, Rodgers and Green Bay were able to come to an agreement for this season.
“But, you know, the fire still burns and I wanted to be on a football team. So I’m here,” said Rodgers.
LIVE: @AaronRodgers12 speaks with the media at #PackersCamp
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 28, 2021
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