Aaron Rodgers, Packers putting hard feelings on hold in pursuit of the Super Bowl
GREEN BAY - Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is returning to the Green Bay Packers in the same manner in which he vowed never to play for them again.
In silence.
When it comes to his estrangement from the Packers, Rodgers has been mostly silent, letting well-timed leaks from national reporters do his talking. And so it came as no surprise that in the middle of the team’s annual shareholders meeting Monday morning at Lambeau Field, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Twitter that Rodgers intends to play with the Packers this season.
Before the day was through, Rodgers’ dispute with the Packers was nearly over and what stood to be a promising 2021 season was back on track. Some five months of leaks, innuendo and unspoken grievances were on the verge of being inconsequential, even with some details regarding Rodgers’ return still to be ironed out.
A source with connections inside the Packers' front office said that even if the two sides aren’t able to complete all the details of an agreement that would avoid a Rodgers holdout, they could be worked out while he was taking part in training camp.
The source said Rodgers did not want to be fined $50,000 for each day of camp he missed, in addition to setting up the possibility the team could go after some of the salary and roster-bonus money it had already paid him if he didn’t show up on time.
So, according to reports, Rodgers flew into town Monday night and is scheduled to meet with the team to finalize terms of his return..
The saga that began shortly after the season ended and became public on the first day of the NFL draft will soon be history. The Packers will have their MVP quarterback on the field and in exchange, Rodgers will have some concessions that could lead to him getting out of his contract a year or two ahead of time.
Based on reports from ESPN and NFL Network — who posted almost simultaneously a rough draft of what Rodgers will receive contractually if talks continue to progress — the final year (2023) of Rodgers’ contract would be voided, meaning he would become a free agent after the ’22 season.
In addition, his salary would be adjusted this season to help the team’s salary cap with no loss of income.
And some of his issues with the team would be addressed, although no details were given.
Another concession that may be delivered is a trade for Houston Texans wide receiver Randall Cobb, the Packers' 2011 second-round pick who played eight seasons with Rodgers, catching 470 passes for 5,524 yards and 41 touchdowns. ESPN reported Rodgers' decision to report was pegged to the Packers acquiring Cobb and while that may be an overstatement, the Packers appear poised to acquire him from the Texans, a source said.
Cobb, who is set to turn 31 in August, has played in 25 games the last two seasons (Dallas in '19, Houston in '20) and has 93 catches for 1,269 yards and six touchdowns. The Packers drafted slot receiver Amari Rodgers in the third round and have plans for him.
Amari Rodgers' father, Tee Martin, coached Cobb at Kentucky and Rodgers is close friends with Cobb, so the veteran could be a mentor. But keeping Cobb could result in a promising player on offense not making the roster.
Missing from the list of things Rodgers would get from the Packers is a bump in pay. Until the contract is submitted to the NFL, very few people will know how his 2021 base salary of $14.7 million and 2022 base salary of $25 million will be adjusted.
Reports have surfaced recently stating that Rodgers’ beef with the Packers had nothing to do with money, so if he is receiving a large sum it’s not surprising that the details of the agreement do not identify them.
For Rodgers, the significance of the final year of his deal being voided is that if he is still unhappy after this season, he can demand a trade and the Packers will probably be willing to accommodate him.
There would be great incentive for the Packers to trade Rodgers after this season. It is a better option than allowing his contract to expire in two years and receiving at most a free-agent compensatory draft pick in return. At the same time, 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love will have had two years in the system and would be ready to take over at quarterback.
- RELATED: Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams post cryptic 'Last Dance' photo
- RELATED: Sources say Aaron Rodgers declined Packers' contract extension offer
- DOUGHERTY: How much say should Aaron Rodgers have in personnel decisions?
- RELATED: Packers CEO Mark Murphy calls Aaron Rodgers a 'complicated fella'
If Rodgers has another superb year and feels comfortable finishing his career here, the Packers could also hold onto him. The two sides could work out a contract extension that guarantees him more than just the $25 million he is due in ’22 and make Love wait another year or two.
Either way, Rodgers will have to play well to win back some of the fans he turned off with his offseason spat and there may be some teammates who will have to get over him threatening to abandon them. But in the end, the Packers are getting back their three-time MVP and most of the other stuff won’t matter if he plays well.
The Packers have maintained radio silence on the Rodgers issue all through the offseason and so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Rodgers’ agents were behind leaks of his return to the fold. The way things were framed in the reports, Rodgers is returning without any huge financial incentives or major concessions from the Packers.
This way it appears that he hasn’t held them hostage or put them in worse salary-cap shape than they already are.
In reality, Rodgers did not have much leverage with three years left on his contract.
He could have demanded a trade, but the Packers didn’t have to grant it. He could have held out, but that would have cost him $50,000 for each day of training camp he missed, plus much more if he started missing games.
If he retired, he would have had to pay the Packers back $30 million, which is two years of guaranteed money he was paid during the course of his contract plus a $6.8 million roster bonus he was paid in March.
In the end, there weren’t many good options for him. He was able to create considerable angst within the organization, turn some of the Packers' fans against general manager Brian Gutekunst and team president Mark Murphy and make a contract dispute with receiver Davante Adams seem much worse than it was, but that’s it.
The reports don’t say the Packers are obligated to trade him after this season, But Rodgers could reject a trade if he doesn’t approve of the team.
But his options are limited unless there is specific language that he must be let go.
The source with connections to the Packers' front office said things may have changed recently, but the Packers had accepted they were going to have to pay Rodgers a large sum to keep him around this season. They are smart enough to know that with Rodgers they have the potential to win a Super Bowl this season and trading him now would have considerably affected their chances.
As much as they like Love, they feel he isn’t ready to lead them to a Super Bowl, especially given he was very raw coming out of Utah State and didn’t have an off-season last year with the coaches due to COVID-19. Gutekunst and negotiator Russ Ball have pushed their salary cap to the limit in the hopes of winning it all this year and taking those risks without having Rodgers under center would have been foolish.
In front of an estimated crowd of 3,900 shareholders, Murphy and Gutekunst spoke glowingly of Rodgers. Gutekunst mentioned him first when referencing all the returning starters on offense during his state-of-the-team address.
"We have been working tirelessly with Aaron and his representatives,” Gutekunst said about resolving their differences. “We’re hopeful for a positive resolution."
Murphy sounded optimistic that the two sides could patch things up, knowing that Ball had been negotiating with Dunn in person recently, as ESPN reported. Both Gutekunst and Murphy must have known that Rodgers was interested in returning despite receiving the message all offseason that he wouldn’t ever play for the Packers again.
“We want him back,” Murphy told the shareholders who gathered at Lambeau Field. “We’re committed to him for 2021 and beyond. He’s our leader. We’re looking forward to winning another Super Bowl with him.”
Presumably speaking to those who have turned on Rodgers, Murphy praised him for being the team's leader and asked fans not to forget all the great things he has done.
While there were a few individuals who voiced their displeasure with Murphy and Gutekunst prior to the meeting, the crowd was largely positive and cheered both Packers management and Rodgers.
“I didn’t really hear anything on the way out about the situation,” said Murphy, who signed autographs and spoke with fans after the meeting was over. “I was genuinely surprised. I thought there would be more booing against us or Aaron.
“But I was pleasantly surprised.”