'Respect' issue reportedly at center of Aaron Rodgers-Packers rift

It seemed at one point like the issues between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have at least something to do with the star quarterback’s contract situation. The more we learn, however, the less believable that is.

Peter King of NBC Sports spoke with Packers wide receiver Davante Adams recently, and Adams indicated that “respect” is at the core of the dispute between Rodgers and the Packers. While Adams was careful not to criticize the team, he shared some very interesting thoughts.

“It’s just something that’s part of the business — you’ve got to keep people happy,” Adams said. “And it’s tough because you have so much time invested in one place and you’ve done so much for one place you just hope to see that respect reciprocated, I guess you could say. And when it doesn’t work out exactly how you want, you have issues like this.”

Earlier in the offseason, there was talk that the Packers wanted to restructure Rodgers’ contract in a way that would make it easy for them to part ways with him after this season. A more recent report claimed Green Bay offered to make Rodgers the highest-paid quarterback in football, but an agreement could not be reached. Perhaps that is because Rodgers is not concerned about his contract.

As King notes, the disagreement between Rodgers and the Packers is “much more a respect situation than a contractual one.” That almost certainly stems from the team trading up to draft quarterback Jordan Love last year without first consulting Rodgers. The 37-year-old feels he does not have enough of a voice within the organization, and it’s unclear how the Packers can convince him otherwise.

The relationship between Rodgers and one particular person in Green Bay appears to be tarnished beyond repair. That may ultimately lead to the reigning NFL MVP refusing to return to the team. The majority of disputes between professional athletes and their respective teams are about money, but it does not look like that is the case with Rodgers.