Aaron Rodgers appears to be willing to stay away from the Green Bay Packers for as long as it takes to force a trade, but the team is reportedly no closer to granting him his wish.
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic was told by a source that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst continues to maintain that he “will not” trade Rodgers. That is noteworthy since Green Bay could free up a significant amount of salary cap space by trading Rodgers after Tuesday, which is June 1.
The Packers would be left with a dead salary cap hit of more than $38 million if they traded Rodgers before June 1. Dealing the reigning NFL MVP after that date would free up roughly $16 million in cap space, and the dead cap hit decreases to around $21 million. If the Packers were to trade Rodgers, they were always going to do it after June 1.
As of now, they are not. Rodgers publicly admitted for the first time last week that he is at odds with Green Bay’s front office. He says that has nothing to do with the team trading up to draft Jordan Love last year but is more about the current “philosophy” within the organization.
Some people close to Rodgers reportedly believe the quarterback will never play for the Packers again. There is one significant change the team could make that might help ease the tension, but they appear to be unwilling to make it.
Rodgers certainly seems to be enjoying his life away from the field this offseason. If he is truly dug in and would rather retire than return to Green Bay, Gutekunst may eventually change his mind. For now, however, the stalemate continues.
More must-reads: