In my last column, I took a deep dive into the imbroglio currently going on between the reigning MVP, Aaron Rodgers, and his long-time team, the Packers. I wrote from the unique perspective of knowing the parties involved and feeling some déjà vu from what we went through 15 years ago when I worked for the Packers—with Brett Favre then in the role that Aaron now finds himself in, while Aaron was playing Jordan Love’s current role. No one was happy about it—the players, fans, media, etc.—and I remember the care and attention required to manage that situation, one very similar to the current one in Green Bay.
Now three weeks after ESPN dropped the bombshell that “Rodgers wants out of Green Bay!” it is hard to know what may or may not be true, only that there is a problem between Aaron and the team. Former teammates of Aaron’s, including James Jones, John Kuhn, A.J. Hawk and others, have talked to Aaron and don’t read the situation nearly as dire as the hyperbolic reporting of a few weeks ago.
The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between.
One thing that I’m sure about is this: The Packers are dead set against trading Rodgers this year, for two obvious reasons. It would be 1) cap prohibitive, and 2) competitively damaging, as Love needs more tutelage. As for next year, that’s a different story.
As I’ve been saying, my strong sense is that the Packers’ “plan” is to have Aaron lead their team this year while keeping their plan of a transfer to Love, probably next season. The team’s carefully phrased desire to have Aaron “in 2021 and beyond” indicates to me that they want their MVP-level of play this year to garner maximum trade compensation before next year’s draft.
Aaron is, understandably, not down with that plan, and solutions based on the contract—making him the highest paid player in the league, adding guaranteed years, etc.—are not that simple. And, crucially, you only get to the contract part if the “other stuff” is worked out.As someone who managed an NFL cap for 10 years, I know the money can always be figured out. But this dispute has seemed personal: There is a fissure, a chasm, an enmity, a dislike between Rodgers and the front office. It is only when that part is resolved—if it can be—that the team can then work on the money part of the equation.
My Thought to Resolve Things
Here is a three-pronged idea that percolated in my head during my time hiking out West last week.
1. Rodgers ends whatever discontent he has with the team and returns to the Packers for the 2021 season, with a monetary adjustment to reflect his MVP-level of play.
2. The Packers move $10 million of Rodgers’s $25 million 2022 salary into a roster bonus due if he is on the team in the first days of the ’22 league year.
3. The Packers have to decidewhether to pay Rodgers that money (which would ensure his presence on the team in 2022) or to trade him and turn the team over to Love.
This would allow the Packers to stick to what has seemed to be their plan: to have Rodgers one more year before handing the team to Love. Or, if they decide to have another year of Rodgers, they would have to commit financially right away, as the Packers are not going to trade him after paying him $10 million (although stranger things have happened). The point of the roster bonus is to avoid going through another offseason like this one, to resolve whatever issues there are between him and the team, and to decide on the transfer of Love, right away.
The downside for the Packers? They would have to adjust the contract to less favorable terms, forcing a decision point. The downside for Rodgers? He would still be a seat-warmer for Love in 2021. Neither side would be completely happy with this deal, but it is a compromise that will serve both sides for the short term.
Listen, I am still very much a Packers fan and an Aaron Rodgers fan, as are my sons, and it would be tough to lose Aaron. But the die was cast a year ago by the team, as we cast it 16 years ago in selecting him to replace Brett. The selection of Love put an expiration date on the team and Aaron, an expiration date that I always sensed was 2022.
Aaron does not want the Packers to “use him” another year before discarding him for the younger option. But, in my opinion, he would allow that for this deal.
