By Jordan Long
The Green Bay Packers are in training camp. The biggest question surrounding them is how much longer will Aaron Rodgers be in Green Bay? The Packers drafted his successor in Jordan Love. Love was the 26th pick in this years’ NFL Draft. It could signal the end of Rodgers in Green Bay.
Rodgers has been with the Packers since they drafted him in 2005. At the time Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre was the starter. Rodgers sat and learned from Favre. Rodgers finally became the starter in 2008. Since 2008, the Packers have gone an impressive 113-60-1 with him as the starter including 9 trips to the playoffs. Green Bay won Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25.
Rodgers has proven to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He has thrown for 46,946 yards, 364 touchdowns, and only 84 interceptions. He is expected to surpass 50,000 yards passing assuming the season is able to be played. He will join Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, John Elway, and Matt Ryan as the only quarterbacks in the history of the NFL to toss for 50,000 yards or more in their career.
Rodgers understands that his time in Green Bay could be coming to a close. It might be this year. According to packerswire.usatoday.com, “If I retire on the team’s timeline, then all is well. But if they’re looking to move on before I’m ready to be done playing, there comes an impasse at that point. I can control my play and my performance and my approach and my leadership, but at some point, there’s other factors involved. That’s the facts to me at this point.”
The Packers know Rodgers will be the starter this season. After that who knows what will happen. Rodgers is under contract for this year and next. He has an out of his current deal in 2022. It is possible the Packers may let him go then. If they do, it could cost them around $17 million in dead cap space.
The Packers may look into trading him at the end of the year. This would only happen if they want Love to start in the future. Green Bay might, at worse, receive a 2nd-round pick back for him. Dealing him would be difficult. His cap hit next year is around $36 million, a lot for a team to take on. A franchise may not have the cap space. In that case, Rodgers might need to take a pay cut for a team to keep him.
The Packers don’t know what the future holds for Rodgers. They can only play for this year. Only time will tell if Rodgers’ time in Green Bay will be up soon.
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