Packers GM reveals what led to team trading for Randall Cobb

Aaron Rodgers spoke at length on Wednesday about how unhappy he has been with the Green Bay Packers for not retaining certain veteran players, and the team brought back one of those players via trade this week. And, yes, that was very much Rodgers’ doing.

The Packers acquired wide receiver Randall Cobb in a trade with the Houston Texans on Wednesday. The move came after reports that Rodgers wanted Cobb back in Green Bay. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was asked on Thursday about the motivation behind trading for Cobb, and he openly admitted that the deal was made for Rodgers.

“I think that’s a big part of it, I don’t think without Aaron we would be pursuing him,” Gutekunst said, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “This was a very important thing for Aaron and that’s why we did it.”

Cobb, 30, had his best year with the Packers back in 2014. He caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns during that Pro Bowl season. He was one of Rodgers’ favorite targets during his eight seasons in Green Bay, but the Packers chose not to re-sign him in 2019. He spent a season with the Dallas Cowboys before winding up in Houston.

Rodgers went into surprising detail on Wednesday about his issues with the Packers. One of them, he says, is the way the team treated several “high-character veterans,” and Cobb was among the players he mentioned. You can hear more of his explanation here.