After months of publicly quarreling with Green Bay’s front office, reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers is reportedly returning to the Packers for the 2021 season.
NFL network reported Monday that the decorated quarterback has told confidants that he plans to play for the Packers this season, although that’s not yet a certainty. General manager Brian Gutekunst recently told team shareholders act he was ‘hopeful’ for a positive outcome with Rodgers, who has criticized the ‘character and culture’ of the organization.
Rodgers, 37, has stayed away from the team, including skipping mandatory minicamp, generating months-long speculation about where he would play the 2021 season, if at all.
After months of publicly quarreling with Green Bay’s front office, reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers is reportedly returning to the Packers for the 2021 season
NFL network reported Monday that the decorated quarterback has told confidants that he plans to play for the Packers this season, although that’s not yet a certainty. General manager Brian Gutekunst recently told team shareholders act he was ‘hopeful’ for a positive outcome with Rodgers, who has criticized the ‘character and culture’ of the organization
Tom Brady (left) and Phil Mickelson (right) congratulate Aaron Rodgers after Rodgers and Bryson DeChambeau won Capital One’s The Match at The Reserve at Moonlight Basin on July 06, 2021 in Big Sky, Montana
Rodgers’ last public comments came early this month when he said he had been devoting time this offseason to his mental health and spiritual self.
‘We want him back, we’re committed to him for 2021 and beyond,’ president Mark Murphy told shareholders, adding that the standoff has been a ‘challenging situation, but let’s not forget all the great things he’s done.’
Packers veterans report Tuesday with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday.
Previously, Rodgers reportedly declined a two-year contract extension in the offseason that would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid player.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday, the proposed deal would have kept Rodgers in Green Bay for five more years and made him the ‘highest-paid player and quarterback’ in the NFL.
The refusal is ‘proof’ that Rodgers’s issues with the club are ‘not about the money,’ Schefter wrote in a tweet.
There had been a growing belief that Rodgers would retire rather than return to the Packers.
With that thought ostensibly in mind, Westgate SuperBook recently removed projected wins, playoff odds, division odds and weekly lines for all four NFC North teams, according to Sports Illustrated. The publication cited its information as coming from an oddsmaker at the sportsbook.
According to SI.com, multiple sportsbooks were in agreement that Rodgers would retire prior to Green Bay’s first practice on Wednesday. SI said one sportsbook lessened the odds of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to win MVP honors.
Also, Pro Football Talk reports that DraftKings and PointsBet have removed the Packers from over-under victories wagers.
Aaron Rodgers pictured during his brief guest-hosting tenure on Jeopardy!
Rodgers took issue with multiple instances of what he considers failed communication from the team, including trading up in the 2020 draft to select quarterback Jordan Love in the first round.
But Rodgers said in May that ‘it’s never been about the draft pick.’
‘I love Jordan; he’s a great kid,’ he told ESPN. ‘(It is) a lot of fun to work together. Love the coaching staff, love my teammates, love the fan base in Green Bay. An incredible 16 years. It’s just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make the thing go.
‘It’s about character, it’s about culture, it’s about doing things the right way.’
The overarching issue between Gutekunst and Rodgers came to the surface prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, but underlying friction has existed since the Packers selected Love in the first round of the 2020 draft.
At rookie minicamp following the draft, LaFleur said again the Packers wanted Rodgers to return ‘in the worst way.’
‘As we’ve stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond,’ Gutekunst told ESPN. ‘Aaron has been a vital part of our success and we look forward to competing for another championship with him leading our team.’
Rodgers made cryptic comments before the 2020 NFC title game, saying his future is a ‘beautiful mystery.’
Rodgers and the Packers have been locked in a simmering standoff. Rodgers reportedly told the Packers he wouldn’t play for the team next season. But team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst (pictured) vowed not to part with the reigning MVP
Jordan Love was a surprise first-round pick by the Packers in 2020. His arrival seemed to suggest that Rodgers’s days in Green Bay were numbered until the longtime starter went on to earn his third MVP award in 2020
The Packers have shown no interest in trading him, and according to ESPN, turned down offers from the Los Angeles Rams, who ultimately dealt for the Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Rodgers pictured with his likely successor, Jordan Love, during a practice in 2020
Rodgers won his third MVP award in 2020 after leading the NFL and setting franchise records for both completion percentage (70.7) and touchdown passes (48).
But to Rodgers, the MVP award may have been a turning point in his relationship with the team.
‘A lot of this (drama) was put in motion last year, and the wrench was just kind of thrown into it when I won MVP and played the way I played last year,’ Rodgers said on ESPN. ‘This is just kind of, I think, a spill-out of all that. But it is about the people, and that’s the most important thing.
Rodgers has played his entire 16-year NFL career with the Packers, winning three MVP awards and Super Bowl XLV over that time.
He is signed through the 2023 season, but has an out clause in his contract that could allow him to become a free agent in the summer of 2022. Rodgers has earned more than $240 million in salary over his 16-year career.
Rodgers has been busy this off-season.
In addition to a stretch hosting Jeopardy, he revealed his engagement to actress Shailene Woodley when he accepted his third MVP award back in February.
In addition to a stretch hosting Jeopardy in April, Rodgers revealed his engagement to actress Shailene Woodley when he accepted his third MVP award back in February