Carr to Saints is potentially good news for Packers
By Paul Bretl
If, and I really want to stress that word, the Packers do decide to trade Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr deciding to sign with the New Orleans Saints on Monday is good news for Green Bay.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Saints — a team never reportedly interested in Rodgers — and Carr have agreed to a four-year deal worth $150 million and includes $100 million in total guarantees. Now with Carr off the market, Rodgers’ trade value has likely increased — you know, supply and demand — and done so with one team in particular, the New York Jets.
The Jets have been very adamant all offseason that with a strong core that is ready to win on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, it is their intention to find a veteran quarterback. New York had Carr in for a visit and seemed very interested. However, not surprisingly, it is Rodgers who is their top target, while Carr was No. 2.
Now in an already thin quarterback market, the Jets have lost some leverage if they end up negotiating with the Packers. Without Carr, their backup plan is all but gone. If New York fails to land Rodgers, the next best option may be Jimmy Garoppolo, with it looking like both Lamar Jackson and Ryan Tannehill are staying put with their current teams while Daniel Jones and the Giants continue to work through contract negotiations of their own.
For Green Bay, they need all the help that they can get with what may be a limited trade market for Rodgers. For one, the uncertainty around how long Rodgers intends to play — if he doesn’t retire this offseason — remains a big unknown and, to a degree, will likely hurt his trade value. On top of that, recent reports suggest that Las Vegas is not interested in making a trade for Rodgers, and who knows how willing the Packers are going to be to send Rodgers to another NFC team, which would severely limit their options. One could easily argue that Green Bay should take the best trade available — outside of the division — but who knows if that’s how they are approaching this.
Although the Packers are not contractually obligated to get Rodgers’ approval for a trade, they will because it’s the right thing to do, given what he’s meant to the organization. One would think that even if there were a bevy of teams lining up to trade for Rodgers, the Jets would still make a lot of sense with the young core of playmakers that they have on offense, along with Nathanial Hackett being hired as the offensive coordinator this offseason.
We’ve heard for a few years now that Rodgers was on his way out of Green Bay, however, that is yet to happen. But this offseason feels different. There are more of those reports, and unlike in years past when the Packers were willing to acquiesce to Rodgers’ demands, the reporting suggests that it is Green Bay who is ready to move on. Brian Gutekunst was even very non-commital when discussing Rodgers’ future at the NFL Combine when in 2021 and 2022, he was adamant that no trade would be happening.
With free agency beginning on March 15th, a decision — one way or the other — will likely have to be reached this week because of the salary cap ramifications that come with either keeping or trading Rodgers, both for the Packers and whoever the acquiring team may be. Green Bay will want to know where they stand from a salary cap perspective by that date, so they know specifically how to go about free agency–and the same thing applies to their potential trade partner as well.