The Packers are in a better position to play hardball with Aaron Rodgers than he is with the team

 

A day full of personal angst because of package delivery issues, and I just don’t have the time to do a lot of heavy thinking today. But there is one topic that doesn’t require much thinking for me: The Aaron Rodgers Express To Nowhere. The quarterback who is 0-42 in games against teams with winning records when trailing entering the fourth quarter, and who had a backup—Matt Flynn—who was arguably more “clutch,” it  is clear that Rodgers has been taking advise from people he shouldn’t, meaning sycophants, fanatics and people who are not part of the Packer faithful. Sure, I dare him to take ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s “advice” and sit out the season.

Next Tuesday is the Packers mandatory mini-camp, and every ambulatory Packer player, including Rodgers, is required to be there, or incur fines which may or may not be waved. But if Rodgers holds out from training camp next month, then the daily fines are mandatory per the CBA. As Mike Florio points out, the Packers really hold all the cards here, given that Rodgers still has three years left on a contract that he doesn’t have the character to honor. In fact, it is in their best interest to call Rodgers' “bluff” and see if he will report or not. The Packers have insisted they will not trade him, and if Rodgers does decide to report for camp, that means he will play for the team—and if he doesn’t and decides to sit out the season, the Packers have in fact no incentive to trade him right away.

The Packers are in fact in a better position to play hardball with Rodgers than he is with the team; the team could potentially recoup up to $35 million this year if Rodgers goes home and pouts.  Furthermore, right now only two teams—the Broncos and the Raiders—seem to be in the “mix” to acquire Rodgers now. But if the Packers wait until later in the season, or even after the season is over, that means there will likely be more teams competing for Rodgers’ services and offering more in exchange. The Packers still control his fate at the present time; after all, Rodgers can’t trade himself—only the Packers can do that.

It doesn’t matter if Rodgers “retires,” and then decides to “unretire” in 2022; he will still be under contract with the Packers, just as was the case with Brett Favre when he “unretired” in 2008. By then, the Packers will see if Jordan Love is any good (I’m not holding my breath on that), or they can get a high 2022 draft pick (from a deal for Rodgers, or if the team “tanks”) and pick up a young quarterback who is ready to play. Who knows what Rodgers will be doing in his “extended” offseason: lie about and get out-of-shape? Hope he’ll get that call from Jeopardy producers? The only way the Packers "lose" here is if Rodgers decides his retirement is permanent and he can't be used as trade bait in the future.

The truth is that for this thing to have “worked” for Rodgers if he really wanted out of Green Bay was to hope that the Packers traded him right away. But he seriously miscalculated by waiting until draft day to make his "desire" known. The Packers insist that they have no intention to trade him, and expect him to play for them this season. GM Brian Gutekunst isn’t quite as “dumb” as some people take him for, especially Rodgers; at least he is a man with a "plan," and not operating purely from juvenile emotion.

Gutekunst is offering Rodgers a lucrative contract extension, even renegotiating TE Robert Tonyan’s contract to free-up cap space. If Rodgers decides to play and gets another chance to prove he isn’t the playoff choke artist he has shown himself to be time and time again, Packer fans will be forgiving. But if he decides he won’t play for the Packers again, the Packers can take their sweet time dealing  him, since any draft picks they acquire for him will be from next year’s draft anyways.

Ultimately, it all falls on Rodgers to be “smart,” and given that this guy is consumed with his personal grudges, one wonders if he is even capable of that, let alone thinking far enough ahead to be accused of being “calculating.” This isn’t a “game” anymore; this is real life, and if Rodgers is comfortable with forfeiting $35 million, so be it. We shouldn’t feel too sorry for him if that kind of money is “nothing” to him. The smart move is to accept a new contract extension, or simply come back for another year, with the “understanding” that he may want to be moved next year.