The Need to Restore a Sense of Urgency:

If the Packers decide to R-E-L-A-X on the free agent front this offseason, they could risk losing Aaron Rodgers when his contract expires at the end of the 2019 season. Many think that Aaron Rodgers will have a new deal in place by the time the Packers come in for OTA’s this summer, but I say, why not wait?

Why Not Wait? 

If you’re arguably the best quarterback in the NFL like Aaron Rodgers is, and you’ve made over $125 million dollars in your career, why would you rush to sign an extension with a team that has forced you to shoulder most of the workload over the course of your entire career?

Why not make the front office finally start working for you by signing impact players in free agency and hitting on some draft picks that can start to change the landscape of the NFC North?

Why not wait until after the draft, free agency, and OTAs until you start to think about talking to the Packers about an extension?

Why not make the Packers front office worry about losing you?

Food for Thought:

The reality of the situation is that Aaron Rodgers needs to start thinking about whether the Green Bay Packers are going to provide him with the best chance to win his second super bowl. To this point, the Packers have failed in their duty to put a balanced team around Aaron Rodgers.

Before you say that Aaron’s salary is the reason why the Packers roster is out of balance, I will say to you, look at the Patriots, and look at the Steelers, just to name a couple of organizations who are faced with similar financial situations and have more balanced rosters.

At this stage of his career, Aaron is going to need more help around him. His career arc is already taking shape like that of Peyton Manning, who also had to shoulder most of the load in Indianapolis and generate extra offensive production because of his team’s sub-par defenses and postseason blunders.

As we all know, Peyton had to go to Denver to even sniff a hint of a second super bowl championship. Maybe Aaron will have to take a similar career path and find another team to take him to the promised land again.

This is why the 2018 Green Bay Packers must reaffirm their commitment to winning another super bowl by spending money on impact free agents and hitting on their draft picks this year. If the Gutekunst regime thinks that the standard operating procedure for the offseason program and a business as usual approach to free agency and the draft will cut it with Aaron, they will be in for a rude awakening when Aaron decides to test the free agent waters or request a trade after the 2018 season.

Final Take:

At this point, it is not unfair for Aaron Rodgers to be looking elsewhere for potential free agent or trade destination spots because he is in an unbalanced relationship with the Green Bay Packers where he is responsible for 100% of the team’s success and is shouldered with 80% of the workload.

The 2018 offseason begins with the Green Bay Packers newly hired front office staff being immediately thrown onto the hot seat, as they are commissioned with the task of balancing Aaron Rodgers workload to a more desirable ratio so that the Packers have a more balanced roster going into the 2018 regular season.

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David Michalski is a recent college graduate from Princeton New Jersey who has been a life long Green Bay Packers fan. Like the great Vince Lombardi, he values God, family, and the Green Bay Packers in that order. You can follow him on twitter at @kilbas27dave

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