The Packers have openly stated that they will not be trading Aaron Rodgers… to an NFC team. The AFC, however, is on the table. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Green Bay Packers “will explore” the possibilities of trading the future Hall of Fame QB to the AFC.
This comes on the heels of Peter King of NBC Sports alleging teams such as the Jets and Raiders would be interested in the 38-year-old QB. And earlier today, Nathaniel Hackett was hired by the Jets to be the new offensive coordinator. Hackett was the offensive coordinator for the Packers the years Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs. This is not like past seasons where we wondered if Rodgers and the Packers were looking into moving on. It is now a question of will both Rodgers and the Packers find a mutually agreeable trade?
As Peter King mentioned in his article the Jets, Raiders, and Patriots all make sense. The Jets have an incredible defense led by Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams. They have a solid line and emerging stars in running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson. With two firsts and/or possibly a receiver in Elijah Moore (who requested a trade earlier this season) or Denzel Mims, it’s a very tantalizing offer. The Jets get Rodgers and are all of a sudden playoff-level. Rodgers may even rub off on QB Zach Wilson who’s been nothing short of a bust-up until this point. The Packers would get to move on to their possible future in former first-round pick Jordan Love and additional draft/player assets.
A similar situation would work with the Patriots. Coach Belichick would presumably love having the veteran signal-caller on the team, but the problem is the QB room is already full. Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe have shown much more promise than Zach Wilson thus far. The player assets the Patriots have would also most likely be a lot less alluring as well.
The Raiders have been linked for the obvious Davante Adams connection the Raiders wide receiver has with Aaron Rodgers. There’s also the fact that they and Derek Carr have mutually agreed to part ways leaving a hole under center. After making the big splashes with the trade for Adams and signing Head Coach Josh McDaniels then following up with an absolute stinker of a season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the silver and black attempt to make yet another splash to right the ship.
According to Rodgers, he still hasn’t decided if he even wants to come back to play football. If he retired, he’d be leaving about $100 million guaranteed on the table. So, honestly, not many people are taking those talks very seriously. What will likely impact his decision will be how Green Bay goes about the offseason besides him. It will depend upon if they bring his guys (Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Randall Cobb, etc.) back. However, it’s very unlikely they all come back due to the tight cap situation they find themselves in. If only there was a way to lessen that blow.
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