Aaron Rodgers Will Wait Until Last Possible Second to Make Decision About Packers Future

Aaron Rodgers has spent a week playing golf and successfully dodging questions about his football career. He reached for the classic "we'll see" response when playing with Bryson DeChambeau against Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson during The Match last week. A quote from this weekend provided a bit more clarity; Rodgers said he would "figure things out in a couple of weeks" at a charity tournament in Tahoe on Saturday.

When Rodgers didn't show up to the Green Bay Packers' OTAs in June, it became clear that the situation was going to get dragged out into the later and hotter months of the summer. Missing OTAs wasn't an indicator that the relationship was broken beyond repair, given that veteran players' attendance rate to those are fairly low in a normal year and this year especially given the war the NFLPA has waged with teams over how intense those workouts are supposed to be. The Packers could have fined Rodgers if they wanted to, but it does not seem that they did.

But July 28 marks the beginning of Packers training camp. That isn't a date even the best of players will miss. Teams can and will fine players heavily for not attending. It's important for players to go not only because it keeps them in the good graces of the team, but it is the ramp-up in football activities to the regular season. It also falls firmly into the "couple of weeks" timeline Rodgers gave two days ago. It is, in essence, the point of no return for Rodgers and the Packers.

If Rodgers shows up, we can all collectively assume he'll be on the field for the Packers' opening snap in September. Maybe they reconciled their differences or maybe they just came to a short-term agreement. It doesn't really matter. If Rodgers is there, everything will be fine.

If he is not, the situation is going to get ugly pretty quickly. Green Bay can't just let Rodgers refuse to show up without penalty. Rodgers refusing to attend would indicate his desire to be traded has transformed into a demand, a dare for the Packers to roll into the regular season with an unhappy star quarterback on the roster while fining him for his continued absence all the while.

Nobody has a clue what Rodgers will do. The whole situation remains as vague and nebulous as it was back on draft night when Adam Schefter dropped the bombshell. But it's quite clear at this point that he's going to wait until the last possible second to make his decision. Maybe he actually needs that time to determine if he wants to suit up for Green Bay again, or maybe he just wants to make the Packers sweat. One way or another, we are 16 days away from knowing which it is.