Packers aren’t “idiots,” Aaron Rodgers won’t be traded

Inhale through your nose. Feel your belly rising. Exhale through your mouth and feel your chest dropping. After a scary couple of hours on draft day, everything is going to be alright between the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers. At least, Rodgers won’t be traded this offseason.

Reports were flying all over the place just before the 2021 NFL Draft kicked off and for a minute it appeared Rodgers was going to be traded to the Denver Broncos. At least, that’s what Denver’s reporters would have us believe. Out of nowhere, all of the Broncos’ reporters had sources that the team was getting close to a deal for Rodgers with Mark Schlereth even reporting the deal was as close as done as you can get. In the end, it was a bunch of smoke and no fire.

Don’t get me wrong, it certainly appears the Packers and Rodgers have a lot of relationship repairing to do. Rodgers is reportedly unhappy about Green Bay moving up in the first round of last year’s draft to select Jordan Love. A move they made without telling him or even Matt LaFleur if the Jay Glazer report is to be believed.

Prior to that, Rodgers had made it clear he wanted to play into his 40s with the Packers and never wanted to leave. He was much more open about the possibility of finishing his career with another team last season.

Despite all the rumors swirling around, don’t expect the Green Bay Packers to trade superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers any time soon.

As president Mark Murphy said in January, they’re not “idiots” and Rodgers won’t be traded this offseason.

For starters, Green Bay is all in on the 2021 season after reaching the NFC Championship game two years in a row. This isn’t some rebuilding team Rodgers is playing for and they are best equipped to get him another Super Bowl victory than any other potential trade candidate out there. Rodgers is a competitor and wants to win.

Secondly, he’s under contract for three more years in Green Bay. He can’t afford to sit out at this point in his career and if he wants to play football he’ll have to do so on the Packers’ terms. It should be said that the Packers reportedly offered Rodgers an extension to smooth things over but one hasn’t been agreed to yet.

General manager Brian Gutekunst spoke to the press following their first-round selection of Eric Stokes on Thursday night and said, “I do think he’ll play for us again. We’re going to work towards that and have been working towards that on a number of fronts. Keep in mind how much we want Aaron to be here. I’m optimistic.”

If the Packers were going to trade Rodgers this offseason it would’ve happened during the early portion of Round 1. They aren’t going to move him for future picks at this point which means his window is probably closed. A trade could still happen in the years to come, but he should be safe on the Packers’ roster for the rest of the offseason. Now it’s up to the front office to right their wrongs with the MVP.