There has been standing tension between future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers for much of the past few seasons, but Rodgers laid to rest any doubts on where would be finishing his career. When asked at this year’s whether he planned to finish out his career with the team that drafted him 13 years ago Rodgers replied, “Yes definitely.”
This comes a year after Rodgers initially skipped last year’s minicamps after voicing displeasure with the Packers’ organization. That came off the heels of Rodgers’ predicted retirement, a Jeopardy hosting gig, and finally, him returning to the field to lead the Packers once again. The 37-year-old is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons and three straight 13-win seasons. With all this regular-season success the Packers have not been able to make it to the Super Bowl, losing in the NFC Championship twice.
Rodgers recently signed a three-year, $150 million contract extension in March with the team but the MVP said that his contract should not be an indicator of how much longer he will continue to play. “If you say I’m for sure playing two more, three years, and then you have a magical season that ends with a championship and think that that might be the best way to ride off, I don’t want to commit to something,” Rodgers said. “You say, I’m only playing one more year and you have a bitter taste in your mouth and still got the drive and the passion to play one or two more years, I just don’t want to get pigeonholed into it.
Rodgers will have to play this season without All-Pro receiver Devante Adams, who was shipped to the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason. However, he will have some help as new additions in Sammy Watkins, and rookies Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Samori Toure will be available for Rodgers this season. There is still uncertainty about Packers’ receiver Allen Lazard as he has yet to sign his restricted free-agent contract. “The offense has to change. Last year, when you have a guy who’s that talented, it’s probably not an exaggeration to say that 80% of the plays in the passing game were designed specifically for 17, so we’re obviously gonna do some things a little different,” Rodgers said of the offense.
Rodgers is positive regarding the outlook for this season and says any talk of retirement shouldn’t be heeded yet. “I’m focused on this season,” he said. “I’m never gonna drag it out in the offseason. The conversations I’ve had with Brian have been very honest and direct, and that’s not going to change, and we’ll sit down after the season, hopefully after a championship, and figure out what the next step is.”
