The Green Bay Packer carcass was barely an hour cold when the temperature shot up rapidly at Lambeau Field following the stunning season exit at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in NFC Championship Game.
Presumptive MVP Aaron Rodgers, understandably “gutted”, his choice of word, was dealing with his now dubious NFL record of four straight losses in a Championship Game. He faced the media like he has all year, in front of a zoom camera, instead of standing behind a podium in front of a jam packed auditorium. Aaron answered the questions in measured tones but when asked what his spectacular regular season on a 13-3 team will mean to him, he talked of treasured relationships he has built with teammates and the sudden end will lead to “uncertain futures, myself included and that’s why it hurts.”
That self inclusion was interpreted by many in the media in so many ways and was the flint to Monday’s firestorm from NFL talking heads, analysts and writers trying to decipher Rodgers’ meaning, intent and the now front and center relationship between the quarterback and the only franchise he’s ever been employed by.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur appeared to be taken by surprise when asked if he thought Rodgers would be his quarterback next year. “I sure as hell hope so” he quickly replied, “he’s the MVP of our league, he’s the heart and soul of our football team, hell yeah he better be back here.”
Packers President Mark Murphy was my season finale guest on the 5th Quarter Show Monday night and I asked him if he had a reaction to the Rodgers comment that exploded across the country. “I’ll say this” Murphy began, “there’s no way in heck that Aaron’s not going to be on the Packers. He’s gonna be the MVP of the league, might have had his best year ever, he’s our unquestioned leader….and we’re not idiots.”
So how did this become an almost idiotic soap opera less than 48 hours after the season ended?
I have a dozen thoughts on the number 12 drama.
- The organization is on the spot, like it or not. Rodgers never says anything off the cuff. Even with three years left on his contract just extended in 2018, he doesn’t want his future to be on a year to year lease if you will. I think he’s saying ‘if I’m your guy, then I’m your guy to 2023 if not beyond’.
- Rodgers tried to back peddle just a tad on Tuesday on his weekly appearance on SiriusXM Radio with Pat McAfee. He said his uncertain future is something he’s talked about before, which is true. After the drafting of Jordan Love, he came to the realization it may be the Packers, not he that controls his future. “I don’t have any reason to think I won’t be back”, Rodgers said today, “but there are no absolutes in this business.”
- Is this a money shuffle? The Packers would take a huge salary cap hit if they tried to trade or even release Rodgers in 2021. That financial burden eases in 2022 and ’23. Could Rodgers be positioning himself for a restructuring to perhaps include a huge signing bonus that could help the team by having that prorated through the length of the new deal?
- Can a QB be a GM? Rodgers watched Tom Brady dance off the tundra with a Super Bowl berth in just his first year with the Bucs. When Brady was convinced to move south, in not so subtle ways he suggested to management, how about Gronk? You know what? Leonard Fournette looks pretty good to me. Antonio Brown? Sign him and I’ll straighten him out. Tampa went right along and look where they’re going, home to host Super Bowl LV. Would Rodgers want that same power of suggestion, if not downright consultation? That’s a very slippery slope for me.
- Weapons, weapons, my kingdom for weapons. The Packers 2020 draft was offensive heavy, but you knew Love wasn’t going to play. A.J. Dillon got his feet wet, Josiah Deguara got his legs injured and outside of the Tennessee game, very little impact was delivered. The one big receiver added in the off-season, Devin Funchess was an opt out. So how did the bare cupboard offense fare? Number one in scoring, top ten in rushing and passing, the league’s MVP and best wide receiver. Stop with the weaponry tears already.
- Welcome to the leverage club. NBA superstars have had it for a while. Not happy where they are? Demand a trade, pick another star or two you’d like to play with and your former team will eventually comply. LeBron James has done it a couple of times, Anthony Davis joined him, Kevin Durant and most recently James Harden leveraged their way to new locales. Now it’s happening in the NFL, DeShawn Watson is front and center, Matthew Stafford is getting his wish. If Rodgers is not given the firm commitment he’s seeking from the Packers, he might be next.
- The tundra isn’t always browner. Who needs a superstar quarterback? Outside of Kansas City, Buffalo, maybe Seattle, who doesn’t? Rodgers would have several suitors and he has a home in L.A, roots due north of San Francisco. Just checking, but have any of those teams put up back to back 13 win seasons, division titles and final four appearances? Green Bay’s offensive line was graded among the best in football. A shot at a ring still looks promising right where he’s at.
- The quarterback circle of life. 16 years ago Rodgers was a first round understudy. A Hall of Famer still had plenty left in the tank. Brett Favre’s uncertain future was his own doing as he contemplated retiring after the 2o05 and 2006 seasons. When the 2007 campaign ended with the bone chilling overtime pick to the Giants in the NFC title game, he finally did call it a career in March of 2008. The Packers knew they had something special in Rodgers and when Favre retired, the team moved on. That was a three year apprenticeship but Rodgers almost appears like the impatient one that change is coming after just one year. Not so fast.
- The feeding frenzied media has to share some of the blame for turning what to me was a reflective answer into a full blown controversy. As soon as the zoom session was over, tweeting thumbs got busy. Was that a goodbye? How uncertain is that future? He’s the MVP, this is big, big BIG! And so it became.
- Keep me in coach. The relationship fissure between Rodgers and Mike McCarthy was pretty well documented. The almost immediate trust, collaboration and even friendship between Aaron and “Matty” as he calls him appears real. Even through a virtual off-season, these two threw out the bad from last year’s playbook, improved the good and the production took off. LaFleur knows how fortunate he is to have inherited a Hall of Famer. It took Mike Holmgren five years with one to win it all, it took McCarthy five with the same one, I’d hate to see LaFleur get left at the altar by one.
- He’s still got game. From the moment he arrived from Cal in 2005, I can’t recall ever seeing a wobbly ball come out of his hand. He throws a spiral so tight the football might bore through a brick wall. So impressive. We’ve all been spoiled by spectacular quarterback play for going on 29 years in Green Bay. Fans never got to see a Green Bay team play without Favre, he never missed a start, but they have with Rodgers healing from cracked collarbones and other aliments. It wasn’t pretty. Putting together the season he did crashing through his 37th birthday has me convinced he can keep this up for a while and it’s something the Packers simply can’t ignore or push aside too soon.
- Legacy matters. My final point is a bit of a warning. When Favre retired, Ted Thompson made up his mind, it’s Aaron’s turn. When Brett had the change of heart and tried to get the front office to change its mind, Thompson struggled mightily before trading him not to his preferred destination, the Vikings (to stick it to the Pack), but the Jets. That lasted one year and Favre did get over leading Minnesota to a sweep of the Pack in 2009. Packer fans sided with Favre all the way and never forgave Thompson. With another changing of the quarterback guard nearing, Rodgers should think long and hard about his next move. Stay and finish on his handsomely compensated terms as an all-timer. Force the front office hand by demanding a trade because a 23 year old is in wait and the show of support will almost certainly move away from the player.
