Jeremy Fowler: Packers Have No 'Hard Plans' to Trade Aaron Rodgers
By Liam McKeone
With the NFL season all but over, the biggest offseason story will be what happens with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. From all indications, if he asks the Packers to send him elsewhere, they will oblige. But even with the team losing in the divisional round of the postseason after a great regular season yet again, it is no sure thing.
At the very least, Rodgers didn't sound like a guy who was going to do his damndest to get out of dodge after the season-ending loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He said he'd take his time to think about it and told Pat McAfee a decision would likely come sooner rather than later, presumably both out of respect for guys like free agent Davante Adams who have futures to plan and for the Packers to do the required maneuvering to strike a deal if he decides to ask for a trade. Since then, it's been more or less quiet on the Midwestern Front.
Jeremy Fowler appeared on ESPN this morning to give us our first update on the situation. He said that everybody in the organization is on the same page as Rodgers and the team has no "hard plans" to trade the presumptive MVP.
Jeremy Fowler just reported on ESPN that everyone in the #Packers organization is on the same page with Aaron Rodgers. He also added that when asking around to sources, dating back to last offseason, he has never heard that Green Bay has ‘hard plans’ to trade Rodgers.
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) February 6, 2022
It makes perfect sense that the Packers have never had set plans to trade Rodgers. You simply do not do that unless he makes it clear that's the only way forward. For all the huffing and puffing of last offseason, Rodgers is too good for the Packers to trade him unless there is no other option. Such power and influence is afforded to players of Rodgers' caliber.
The note about everybody being on the same page might feel somewhat meaningless but is important in the context of Rodgers' complaints from last year. His biggest problem can be boiled down to feeling like the front office wasn't doing everything they could to maximize his talents while they were around, something that could be changed with more input from the quarterback on what direction the team is taking with their decisions every year. In other words, Rodgers wants everyone to be on the same page, and ideally aligned with his own thoughts on how to proceed.
The latter aspect remains in question, but from the sounds of it, everyone is trying to be more communicative this offseason. A step in the right direction if the marriage between Rodgers and Green Bay is to continue.