Brett Favre knows a thing or two about the Green Bay Packers quarterback situation and the Aaron Rodgers rumors surrounding the team following its loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
It was back in 2005 when Green Bay selected Rodgers in the first round of the NFL Draft. Within just a few years, he took over for Favre as the face of the franchise. For Favre, it was a bitter ending in Green Bay after 16 years with the Packers.
Fast forward 13 years, and we’re starting to hear rumors that Rodgers has played his final game as a member of the Packers. With that said, Favre is having none of it.
Brett Favre downplays Aaron Rodgers rumors
“I wouldn’t pay much attention to it,” Favre said in an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio (h/t Pro Football Talk). “I think frustration, disappointment, hurt, pain, all were in that soundbite. Look, there’s no way the Packers would do anything to jeopardize losing Aaron [Rodgers], unless Aaron just chooses to retire, which I would be shocked. The guy’s playing better now than he’s ever played, and without him, you certainly wouldn’t have been even close to where you were Sunday.”
That’s all fine and dandy. What we do know is that Rodgers sounded like someone who was unsure of his future in Green Bay following Sunday’s brutal loss in the NFC Championship Game. We also know that the Packers took his eventual successor, Jordan Love, in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft last April.
For his part, Rodgers was not a happy camper when Green Bay took Love. The 37-year-old quarterback still thinks he has a lot left in the tank.
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If his performance this past season is any indication, Rodgers is 100% correct. The likely NFL MVP completed a league-high 71% of his passes to go with 48 touchdowns and a mere five interceptions. It was the best performance in what will end up being a first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
With that said, Green Bay once again failed in the conference title game. The team is now 1-4 in the NFC Championship Game with Rodgers starting.
All of this comes after the Packers looked more toward the future in the 2020 NFL Draft than Rodgers would have hoped. All said, only second-round pick A.J. Dillon played a snap among Packers draft picks in the playoffs.
As for Aaron Rodgers rumors and a potential trade, it’s not yet known what is going to happen. Favre doesn’t seem to be too sold.
“I think for the Packers, more so with them, you would be foolish to make any move other than bringing him back and going as long as he wants to go,” the Hall of Fame quarterback said.
Rodgers is currently playing under a four-year, $134 million contract that is set to expire following the 2023 season. Green Bay would take a dramatic dead cap hit by trading him.
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Even then, Rodgers seems to control the situation. If the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback wants out, there’s very little reason to believe that the Packers won’t honor said request.
That makes this situation highly interesting with the NFL offseason getting going.
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