What comes next in Aaron Rodgers-Packers standoff?

As it stands, Aaron Rodgers has two choices — collect his full paycheck for 2021, or continue his holdout into the season and forfeit millions of dollars. However, there is an option C for the Packers’ quarterback. Per the terms of this year’s agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA, Rodgers could opt out, skip the season, and prevent the Packers from taking $18.3M out of his pocket (via PFT).

Players can opt out for any reason, regardless of whether they’ve been deemed as a high risk for COVID-19 complications. The only hitch is that the decision has to be made by Friday, July 2. After that point, it’s irrevocable.

It would be a bold and unprecedented move on Rodgers’ part. It would also prevent him from attempting an encore of his 2020 MVP season. The Packers continue to say that they will not trade Rodgers under any circumstances, but plenty of people seem to think that they’ll bend. In a recent poll, 25% of PFR readers said that Rodgers will wind up as the Broncos’ Week 1 starter.

“We obviously still feel the same way,” head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this year. “We want him back in the worst way. I know he knows that. And we’ll continue to work at it each and every day.”