Aaron Rodgers Says To Return In 2023 Interest Must Be Mutual

Yesterday we witnessed Aaron Rodgers go into Soldier Field and do what he does best. Beat the Chicago Bears. Even in the midst of a down year some things never change.

After a game like yesterday and the way that Christian Watson has emerged I was about to write this article stating that I believed that Aaron Rodgers would 100% return to play for the Packers in 2023. That was until I watched Aaron Rodgers press conference where he said something that took me a little bit by surprise.

Aaron Rodgers was asked if Christian Watson playing the way he’s played will factor into his decision about returning to Green Bay in 2023. Here is Aaron’s response:

“I left Cal and I could’ve came back with Desean Jackson at receiver and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield. I don’t regret it because things have turned out pretty well. But that would have been interesting playing with those two guys. I played with Marshawn for a year but I say that because the way that Christian’s developed you definitely gotta feel good organization with his development.

It’s a rapid wild development and it’s hard to think about another player who goes from being kind of a here and there minimal production to go to type player, home run player. I mean he had two 60+ yard touchdowns it seems like. Last week a catch and run on a short one and then an end round. Pretty special. So it’ll all factor into it. But there’s gotta be mutual desire on both sides.

For the first part of that quote it had me thinking “There is no way Rodgers leaves after this year with Christian playing the way that he is playing.” The last part however made me take a step back. It is only one sentence but I think it is very important to focus on. Aaron says,"But there’s gotta be mutual desire on both sides.” This seems to me that Aaron is saying even if he does want to return to the Packers in 2023 there is a chance that the Packers organization could not want him back.

This seems a little crazy given that the Packers gave Aaron Rodgers a 3yr 150 million dollar extension this past off-season. But let’s think about this a little bit. The front office gave Aaron the extension believing that they could still compete for a title. I assume the front office thought that the defense would be one of the best in the league. They used both first round picks to bolster the D and brought back Rasul Douglas and De’vondre Campbell. The same defensive unit would stick together for 2022 and Jaire would be returning to the mix. But now the reality is that this defense has vastly underperformed expectations. The front office has to be concerned. This team is not what they thought they would be. It is possible that after this down year they believe it could be time to move onto Jordan Love.

I only say this because Aaron would not have said that there has to be mutual interest on both sides if he did not think there was a chance that the Packers would want to move on from him after this year. Now what we don’t know is what % chance is there that the Packers want to move on from Rodgers. Is it a 5% chance? Is it a 50% chance? Only the front office knows. The only way that the Packers would feel comfortable moving on from Rodgers is if they believe in Jordan Love.

America witnessed Jordan Love’s potential last week when he came in for an injured Aaron Rodgers Vs the Eagles and played at a very high level. It even had eagles DB Darius Slay praising Love saying that he reminds him of Aaron Rodgers. If the Packers believe there is a chance that Jordan Love can be great, at some point in the next couple years they will likely move to Love. I thought they would be willing to wait a year if Rodgers wanted to come back in 2023 but maybe I was wrong. Maybe the Packers front office thinks after a poor year this is the best time to move onto Jordan Love.

If they did decide to move on from Rodgers and Rodgers still wanted to play football what would happen? Well they could decide to trade him if another team was willing to take on his contract. According to an Acme Packing Company article written by rcon14 here is how the cap situation would look for a trade

“If Rodgers were to be traded prior to June 1st the Packers would take on a $40,313,750 cap hit in 2023. If he was traded after June 1st it would be a $15,833,570 cap hit in 2023 with $24,480,000 due in 2024. This assumes that the Packers did not exercise the option before the trade.”

So the Packers would likely very much prefer to trade him after June 1 because they would save about $25 million of cap space for 2023 (if they want to trade him).

We are still a couple months away from likely having an idea of what the Packers future is going to look like going forward. Who knows what will happen. Aaron Rodgers could retire. Aaron Rodgers could say he wants to return to Green Bay and the front office could tell him they want to move on. Or Rodgers could be playing for the Packers once again in 2023. With all the uncertainty regarding Aaron Rodgers future we should embrace every moment we get to see Aaron playing in the green and gold because we don’t know when it is going to end.

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