Aaron Rodgers is back in Green Bay, swapping silence for honesty about his feelings for the organisation.
After his first practice session of the 2021 season, the reigning MVP spoke to the media for 32 minutes about recruitment, retirement and being back at Lambeau Field.
Rodgers, 37, has dominated headlines since ESPN revealed he did not want to rejoin the Packers on the eve of April’s draft.
Aaron Rodgers returned to the Packers after missing out on OTAs and minicamp
Despite widespread rumours, a trade to San Francisco or Denver did not materialise, and Rodgers is back for his 17th season – one more than greats Bart Starr and Brett Favre – but perhaps his last as a Packer.
‘I really don’t know,’ Rodgers said. ‘I think I’m just going to focus on this year. There’s a lot of moving pieces besides myself, expiring contracts from a number of guys, so there’s going to be a lot of tough decisions at the end of the year. I’m just going to enjoy this year and then revisit that conversation at the end of the season.’
Rodgers spoke about his uneasy relationship with the front office and its reluctance to commit to the three-time MVP.
‘I felt like if you can’t commit to me past 2021 and I’m not part of your recruiting process in free agency, if I’m not a part of the future, then 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,’ Rodgers said.
For the first six minutes, Rodgers spoke about his offseason, saying he ‘expressed my desire to be more involved in conversations’, while offering to bring free agents to Green Bay.
‘The fact I haven’t been used in those discussions is something I wanted to change moving forward,’ he said. ‘And I felt like based on my years, the way I can still play, that that should be a natural part of the conversation. As that progressed from that point, nothing really changed on that front.’
Rodgers prepares to release under the watchful eye of Packers head coach Matt LeFleur
Rodgers was drafted 24th overall in 2005 and sat out his first three years behind Favre. Rodgers led Green Bay to a Super Bowl win in 2011 and the NFC Championship in four of the last seven seasons.
Yet Green Bay have not surrounded Rodgers with offensive talent, either from free agency nor the draft. Since 2012 they have used their first round pick to draft one offensive player – trading up in 2020 to draft Jordan Love, Rodgers’ eventual replacement.
‘The organisation looks at me and my job as just to play,’ Rodgers said, adding that his performance deserves ‘a little more input’ – but not a final say – on personnel decisions.
‘I just want to be involved in conversations that affect my ability to do my job,’ Rodgers said.
Citing the examples of Jordy Nelson, Charles Woodson, Julius Peppers, James Jones and Randall Cobb, among others, Rodgers continued: ‘I wanted to help the organisation, maybe learn from some of the mistakes in the past… and about the way that some of the outgoing veterans were treated.’
‘And just the fact that we didn’t retain a number of players that I felt like were core players to our foundation, to our locker room. High-character guys.’
Jordan Love and Rodgers work out on the first day of Green Bay’s training camp
Asked if he had assurances that would happen, he said: ‘I’m not sure.’
Rodgers, who was rumoured to be considering retiring, admitted: ‘Yeah, it was definitely something I thought about’.
‘We got some things figured out in the last few days, and now I’m here.
‘There’s still a big competitive hole in my body that I need to fill,’ Rodgers continued.
‘And as I got back into my workouts I just realized that I know I can still play and I want to still play, and as long as feel I can give 100 per cent to the team, then I should still play.’
Rodgers said he has never called for general manager Brian Gutekunst to be fired and described their relationship as ‘professional’, adding: ‘I’m not a victim here.
‘I made a ton of money here, and I’ve been really fortunate to play a long time and to play here. At the same time I’m still competitive and I still feel like I can play, I proved it last year.’
Rodgers threw a league-high 48 touchdown passes with just five interceptions last season as the Packers led the NFL in scoring.
Asked if he wanted to be back, he added: ‘I do, I do,’ he said. ‘I love my team-mates. I love the city, love my coaches. It is a lot of fun to be back here.’