Denver Broncos: Aaron Rodgers trade hopes are dead…for now
The Denver Broncos’ hopes of acquiring MVP Aaron Rodgers are dead…for now. Rodgers reportedly has told those close to him he will play in GB in 2021.
Aaron Rodgers isn’t retiring. He’s not getting traded. The Denver Broncos are going to be pressing onward with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater at the quarterback position when the whole team reports for training camp on Wednesday.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Rodgers has been telling those close to him that he does plan to play this season for the Green Bay Packers.
#Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has indicated to people close to him that he does plan to play for GB this season, sources say. That is the expectation. Many factors at play, but with GM Brian Gutekunst saying he is “hopeful” for a positive outcome, there is a glimmer of optimism.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2021
This means that the dream of the Denver Broncos acquiring the league MVP, a dream that was birthed the day of the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, is dead…
For now.
Why do we say “for now”?
First of all, this news is pretty fresh and everything else that transpired over the course of the offseason with Rodgers and the Packers is hardly water under the bridge. That’s not the kind of guy Rodgers is, at least from what we can see on the outside looking in.
Second, Rodgers hinted at this over the weekend with a post both he and star receiver Davante Adams made on their Instagram pages.
We’ve seen these Instagram stories from Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. One Last Dance, one last go around together perhaps? pic.twitter.com/n9rsD7RAZU
— Lily Zhao (@LilySZhao) July 24, 2021
These photos were posted to Instagram not long after it was reported that the Packers and Davante Adams could not come to terms on a long-term contract agreement. The financial impact and logistics of Rodgers retiring at this point would make it really tough for him to do so, though not impossible.
Still, Rodgers is a competitor, and he loves his teammates. There has never been any question about either of those things throughout this process and even after skipping OTAs for the first time in his 16-year NFL career, Rodgers apparently won’t be skipping the 2021 season with Green Bay to make a point.
It does feel, however, a lot like Rodgers playing the long game in hindsight. At the time of the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Wingo reported that there was an agreement between the Packers and Rodgers not long after the team traded up to get Jordan Love that the Packers would trade Rodgers following the 2020 season.
After he played MVP football, that was a promise the Packers were willing to endure the PR nightmare to go back on.
If that was actually the case, it’s reasonable to assume that Rodgers made his stance with the Packers abundantly clear in the 2021 offseason so that there could be no doubt about his feelings toward the organization come time for the 2022 offseason.
The picture he and Adams posted of Jordan and Pippen is as clear of a message as we’ve gotten on Rodgers’ future at this point. One “last dance” in Green Bay.
If — perhaps when — Rodgers becomes available in the 2022 offseason, the Denver Broncos will undoubtedly have interest barring an MVP-caliber breakout from Drew Lock in 2021.