News broke on Wednesday afternoon that QB Tom Brady, once again, was planning on retiring from football. After a disappointing Bucs season ended in the wild card round, speculation began quickly try and find Brady’s next destination: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami? Last offseason had unprecedented turnover amongst the QB position, and this year looked to be the same with Brady potentially on the move again. That brings us to Aaron Rodgers. After signing his mega extension last year, everyone assumed he would end his career in Green Bay. But over the past few weeks, there has been a growing buzz that might no longer be the case.
And the most intriguing part of that – is that it might not be Rodgers’ decision to make. Brian Gutekunst and the Packers front office made a big commitment to Rodgers with the structure of his extension. And Gutekunst echoed that at his season ending press conference – saying “I think as we did that, it wasn’t certainly just for this year.”
But from the Packers perspective, the price for Rodgers might be as high as it’s going to get. With Brady no longer out there, the list of available veterans is pretty slim pickings. Lamar Jackson is expected to be franchise tagged by the Ravens. After that – Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, and possibly Ryan Tannehil are the top of the list. If they truly believe in Jordan Love, and if someone like the Jets is willing to ship over a first round pick plus a Day 2 pick or players – the Packers should absolutely jump.
But with Brady now out of the picture in the NFC, the best thing for both sides might just to keep Rodgers and try to retool around him one more time. For Rodgers’ sake – Green Bay still probably gives him his best shot for a Super Bowl. That’s especially true if the Packers are hesitant to trade him within the NFC. Without Brady, there are likely only a handful of teams truly comfortable with their QB position. And while people will point to the 49ers as a case for going cheap at QB, few other teams can boast the skill players San Fransisco can.
Meanwhile, Rodgers claims he’s still a few weeks away from even deciding whether he’ll play in 2023. But Rodgers has openly talked about how much his own legacy means to him. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine him deciding to retire the same year as Brady, and having to share the stage with him in Canton five years from now.
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Jared is a rogue Packers fan from a Steelers family and an overall football junkie, including playing 4 years at Ithaca College. You can follow him on twitter at @JPrugar.
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