Aaron Rodgers just become more realistic for Denver Broncos

With the San Francisco 49ers upsetting the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round, the Denver Broncos have a legitimate shot at Aaron Rodgers.

Well, that just happened. During the divisional round, the 49ers upset the Packers on a last-second field goal from kicker Robbie Gould. Among other things, this means the Denver Broncos now have a legitimate shot at trading for Aaron Rodgers.

Last offseason, the Packers lost in the NFC Championship game, and Aaron Rodgers was very open about his future with the team, calling it a “beautiful mystery” which led to an offseason stand-off.

It seemed as if Rodgers didn’t want to continue playing with Green Bay, but he eventually came around, returned to the team, and apparently made a gentleman’s agreement with the team.

The agreement consisted of the team assessing Aaron Rodgers’ situation after the season, and apparently, they would agree to a trade, if he wanted one.

Most people started to come around to the idea of Aaron Rodgers ultimately staying in Green Bay, citing him having another MVP season and the Packers being a shoo-in for the Super Bowl.

Now, that all could change. The Packers being bounced out of the playoffs now leaves Aaron Rodgers with a monumental decision to make.

Some of his post-game comments would also indicate he sees himself either retiring or playing for a new team in 2022.

He cited that he did not want to stick around the team if they needed to rebuild, and with the Packers having around negative $40 million in cap space, there’s a very real chance they are unable to keep their core together.

The Packers have a ton of notable free agents, including Davante Adams, Robert Tonyan, De’Vondre Campbell, Dennis Kelly, Lucas Patrick, and Allen Lazard, among others.

Outside of Rodgers, as he’s still under contract, the Packers are set to potentially lose a ton of roster talent.

Furthermore, Rodgers is due for an extension, and they would surely like to keep Davante Adams, who is set to surely demand over $20 million per year.

Do you see the issues here? The Packers are unlikely to be able to keep the main part of their roster intact, and if Aaron Rodgers demands a trade, Green Bay would probably undergo a rebuild.

This is where the Denver Broncos come into play. There was apparently real interest in the two sides last offseason, but the Packers’ front office wasn’t returning calls.

There will probably be several other teams who could be in on the Rodgers sweepstakes, including the Steelers, Browns, Colts, and even the Dolphins.

The Broncos have a few extra draft picks from the Von Miller trade, and a high first-round draft pick.

Denver is in the driver’s seat to acquire his services if he demands a trade.

The other option here is Rodgers retiring, but why would he do that? He is about to win his second MVP award in a row and just got embarrassed in the playoffs.

It’s clear that Rodgers has shown no indication of slowing down on the field. What if he has another 3 solid years in him?  He’s starting to get dangerously high on the all-time quarterback leaderboards and has just 1 Super Bowl to his name.

Rodgers envisions himself having more success.  He’s the most talented quarterback to ever play, and there is no reason why he should retire at this point. Yeah, he’s old, but look at the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Brett Favre, who saw great success at their advanced ages.

If the Packers had won the Super Bowl this season, I’d have said that retirement is definitely a possibility, but with a tough loss last night, I cannot see him retiring, or sticking around a difficult situation in Green Bay.

Buckle up.