So topics A, B, and C since the loss in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday have all revolved around Aaron Rodgers and his postgame comment about his future being, ‘uncertain.’
Sidenote: And McAfee steers into this beautifully, that quote was mana from the HEAVENS for people in the ‘sports take’ industry. I know plenty of people roll their eyes at the Skip Bayless’s of the world, but keep in mind: There’s a reason that people like him and Stephen A Smith make 5-7 million per year. People listen to them to hate them, people listen to be entertained, people listen to agree with them. But the bottom line is just that: People listen. So you can dismiss them as hot-take carnival barkers if you want, but trust me, you don’t get paid that kind of ching unless you’re generating triple that amount. Which is precisely why this blog is in the non-prof sector.
So when the national media heard that quote after Sunday’s game, their eyes LIT up. That single quote is worth a MONTH’s worth of babbling. Trying to decode what Aaron meant, what his contract looks like, what Jordan Love’s potential is, possible destinations for Aaron, what the Packers might get back in a trade, the possibilities are endless. It isn’t easy to fill 4-5 hours of airtime, but when an athlete drops a soundbite like that, it makes it a whole hell of a lot easier.
Anyway, Rodgers (kind of) clarified those comments, and turned the temperature down in the room a bit. He was speaking extemporaneously about ‘uncertain futures’ in general, especially in a volatile industry like the NFL. He sort of scoffs at AJ Hawk’s question about leveraging his play last season into a different contract, but I think that is certainly a PART of why he’s been saying what he’s been saying. It’s not new information because this was brought up ad nauseum after the Jordan Love pick, but the first natural ‘out’ the Packers would have to pass the torch from Rodgers to Love would be after the 2021 season. That’s the first year they can move on from Rodgers somewhat free and clear in terms of dead cap money, and presumably Love would be up to speed after two years on the bench behind him. So in some ways, Rodgers is a lameduck quarterback heading into 2021, if that’s what the Packers want to do. Well no better way to leverage more guaranteed money, and thus a guarantee he’s staying in Green Bay, than to throw a few vague statements out there about his future coming off of arguably his best season in the league.
I’ll finish this by saying what I said on Monday’s blog, there’s a 0.0% chance Aaron Rodgers is not on this Packer team next season. I’ll eat my hat if he’s playing for a different team in 2021. And I don’t mean that metaphorically, I will literally live stream myself dining on a Packer knit hat start to finish*.
*Card subject to change.
PS: Mark Murphy was on our very Mark Daniels’ 5th Quarter show on Monday and essentially echoed Matt LaFleur’s postgame comments about Rodgers and his position on the team heading into 2021. His quote: ‘We’re not idiots. Aaron Rodgers will be back.’ Good to hear that Mark is taking a page out of the Dwight Schrute playbook:
