Packers are putting their future on hold until Aaron Rodgers decides on his

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INDIANAPOLIS – As quarterback Aaron Rodgers contemplates whether to play for the Green Bay Packers in 2022, the Earth continues to spin on its axis. 

The football world, however, has paused, waiting for an answer. 

The Packers have given Rodgers as much space as possible to mull over his future, cautious not to say or do something that might push a button and cause the 38-year-old veteran to pack his bags and move out. This is a delicate situation and just about everything the Packers have done this offseason has been to show Rodgers they are committed to him finishing his career where it started. 

But indulging Rodgers this way has slowed down the industry, and worse yet for the Packers, caused them to close shop indefinitely. 

It was evident to everybody who tried to do business with the Packers at this past week’s NFL scouting combine that they are not going to make a move until Rodgers tells them whether he is coming back. The league’s quarterback carousel, in turn, remains out of service while the top player chooses his destination. 

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Vice president of player finance Russ Ball took his normal spot in the lobby of a downtown hotel during the NFL combine and entertained agent after agent to talk about the future of their Packers clients. According to several of them, they were told everything is on hold until the Packers hear from Rodgers. 

You could imagine this being extremely frustrating for the likes of receiver Davante Adams, inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard and kicker Mason Crosby, all of whom want to know where they stand with 11 days to go until free agency. 

The Adams negotiation is the most pressing, but the Packers are prepared to slap the franchise tag on him before the Tuesday deadline so they can buy time until Rodgers makes his decision. Even if they use the tag — which would result in Adams costing $20 million against the salary cap — they would have eight days to try to negotiate an extension that would lower that number. 

But they can’t do anything until they know what Rodgers is going to do. 

Here’s why: If Rodgers decides he wants to play somewhere else, the Packers’ offseason plan most likely changes. Instead of sticking with the “all-in” and “run-it-back” approach to the 2022 season, some agents with Packers clients get the sense they will go into rebuild mode, looking to shed salaries, obtain draft picks and build themselves back up with Jordan Love or someone else under center. 

The latter option might mean trading Rodgers and Adams and cutting both Smiths, Crosby, Randall Cobb and Marcedes Lewis. On the other hand, it would allow them to re-sign Campbell, Valdez-Scantling, cornerback Rasul Douglas and make a restricted free-agent tender to Lazard, but they would still be in rebuild mode. 

So far, the Packers have tapped only three veterans — Kenny Clark, David Bakhtiari and Aaron Jones — for contract restructures. The reason is they are core players who will be on the roster this year no matter what and are easy options for cutting salary-cap space. 

General manager Brian Gutekunst said at the combine they will seek other restructures as they need them, which is a clear sign they have two opposite plans based on whether Rodgers stays or goes. If he goes, they’re more likely to cut players with high cap numbers than restructure their contracts for one more run at a Super Bowl.

The delay hasn’t done Adams any favors because it has precluded his agent from talking seriously about a new deal. Until the Packers know how much it’s going to cost to bring back Rodgers and how the deal would be structured, they can’t commit to anything with their star receiver. 

Rodgers indicated on "The Pat McAfee Show" that he wants to see whether the Packers use the franchise tag, but if he really wants to play with Adams again, he needs to let the Packers know his plans right now. They have to get serious with Adams so they can either reach a contract extension that will drastically lower his cap number or offer him up in a sign-and-trade. 

Opinions at the combine — where head coaches, general managers and, in some cases, team owners gather to evaluate draft talent but are there as much to do business with agents and each other — generally leaned toward Rodgers staying. 

But several personnel people and agents who are familiar with how Rodgers’ agent, David Dunn, does business said this is all about money. One source said he knows Dunn has talked to at least one team about what it might be willing to offer Rodgers if he were available, and others suspected he has talked to numerous teams. 

The Packers know they’re going to have to make Rodgers the highest-paid player in the NFL, which means he would want an average of at least $45 million guaranteed per year on a multiyear extension and are prepared to structure it so they can get some cap relief from his $46 million cap number. 

But what if some team with lots more cap space than the Packers, who are $31 million over the $208.2 million limit, makes it known to Dunn they’ll pay $50 million or $55 million per year? Being the highest-paid player is a sign of respect and if some team is willing to offer him three years of that kind of money, it would provide him more capital to pursue an interest in owning a sizable share of a professional sports franchise. 

Dunn has a reputation among agents and NFL executives for doing whatever it takes to maximize his client’s financial well-being and he very well could be trying to drum up interest with other teams to force the Packers to either pay Rodgers $50 million or more per year or trade him to someone who will. 

Rodgers has a lot of leverage here. 

He has a no-trade clause that allows him to nix a deal if the team is not to his liking. His salary-cap number is so high that the Packers can’t strong-arm him into returning for a final year of his contract. He could refuse to add any voidable years that would help lower his cap and the Packers would have to shed so many salaries they would find it impossible to field a Super Bowl-caliber team. 

If he wants to be traded, he can force it. 

As for trading possibilities, Gutekunst wasn’t being forthcoming when he said not a single team had contacted him at the combine about trading for Rodgers. He took an open window in saying no one had asked him about Rodgers since he had arrived in town; he didn’t say anything about phone calls he received regarding Rodgers before he got there. 

One NFL source said he knows teams have called the Packers about Rodgers. He wasn’t sure how far the discussions went, but there are teams that want Gutekunst’s quarterback and want to discuss what it would take to obtain him. 

At this point, the Packers aren’t talking deals. They are just waiting. If he wants to be traded there is plenty of time to get that done, and news that they were discussing hypothetical deals might get back to Rodgers and lead him to think the Packers don’t want him back. 

They don’t want to be the reason he says he’s leaving. 

In the meantime, other careers hang in the balance. Until he decides on his future, the machinery is at a standstill.