The Badger State: When will Aaron Rodgers make a decision?
The Badger State is the essential daily (Monday-Friday) newsletter about the state of Wisconsin sports, including updates about the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, and more.
Unlike some in Wisconsin Sports, The Badger State gets delivered on time as promised. I won’t make you wait much longer for the latest updates about your favorite teams.
Milwaukee Bucks Can’t Close
The Bucks saw their 16-game win streak snapped one week ago in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, in which they gave up 48 fourth-quarter points and blew a double-digit lead. They didn’t implode as hard this past Saturday, but still blew another late-game lead in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Milwaukee led by eight points with 1:53 to go and by five with 1:10 remaining and couldn’t close the deal. Steph Curry went off in the fourth quarter and overtime, providing the Warriors with the spark they needed to protect their homecourt against the NBA’s best team. Also of note: Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his third straight game.
Aaron Rodgers Needs To Decide
The Packers played their last game on January 8th and Aaron Rodgers still hasn’t decided if he will play in 2023. He told everyone multiple times he won’t hold Green Bay hostage and that it wouldn’t take long. Everything was fine with his timeline until today.
Free agency begins and his indecision is hurting the Packers and the New York Jets. Both teams need to plan around any potential salary cap implications of a deal and can’t fully dive into free agency without his notice of intentions. It’s very difficult to deny his love for the spotlight.
Packers: Free Agency Begins
Speaking of free agency, it begins today. The legal tampering period opens on March 13th at 11 a.m. CT, allowing teams and free agents to negotiate and informally agree to deals. Green Bay has about $24 million in salary cap space, but they’ll need that money to re-sign their own players, sign external free agents, sign draft picks, in-season moves, and to eat salary in a Rodgers’ trade. Check out our primer here.
3 bold predictions for Packers' free agency. dark. Next
Wisconsin Basketball Misses NCAA Tournament
Before Greg Gard became the full-time head coach, Wisconsin made the NCAA tournament in 18 straight seasons. After failing to hear their name called on Sunday, they’ve now missed it in two of the last six years–The Gard Effect. The Badgers did accept an invitation to the NIT as a number two seed and will play Bradley at 8:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday.