Packers: Takeaways from Aaron Rodgers’ recent comments on ESPN

On monday night, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers joined ESPN’s Kenny Mayne to celebrate his storied career amidst his announcement that he’d be leaving the company after 27 years.

This was Rodgers’ first public appearance since the major report was dropped on draft night about the issues between him and the organization. Obviously, Mayne tried his damndest to pry any and all information he could from Rodgers, who just wouldn’t budge.

He did acknowledge, however, that the rift between him and the Packers was due to the front office’s decisions over the years regarding him as a player.

He also stated it wasn’t about Jordan Love but rather the philosophy of the organization.

"“I think sometimes people forget what really makes an organization.” Rodgers said. “History is important, [the] legacy of so many people who have come before you, but the people, that’s the most important thing, the people make an organization, people make a business. Sometimes that gets forgotten. Culture is built brick-by-brick, the foundation of it, by the people. Not by the organization, not by the building, not by the corporation, it’s built by the people. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a number of amazing amazing people and I’ve got to work for some amazing people as well. It’s those people that build the foundation of those entities and I think sometimes we forget that.”"

Rodgers still has immense love, respect, and gratitude for Green Bay as a city, team, and fanbase. This doesn’t sound like someone who wants to leave and is demanding a trade to go to another team. This is something that is going to take some time to come to a conclusion that will benefit both sides from player and organizational perspectives.

There’s no doubt that Rodgers has a very good amount of leverage in this situation, it’s up to the team brass in Brian Gutekunst and Mark Murphy to rectify it by letting Rodgers know they are on his side and would be willing to work things out for the betterment of the team as a whole both currently and for the future. Rodgers himself may not have flat out said it but he seems to have issues with how upper management has handled team personnel issues when they’ve arose.

Jordy Nelson retiring back in 2017 after being lowballed on a veteran minimum deal to return, the team releasing fan favorite WR Jake Kumerow just days after Rodgers had praised him, replacing the quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt (of whom Rodgers had immense trust in/rapport with).

They haven’t treated him the way other star quarterbacks have been treated. Tom Brady moves to Tampa Bay, he gets everything he asks for as far as offensive and defensive talent. Patrick Mahomes got an elite offense and a very good defense along with an immense, well-deserved contract extension with Kansas City.

These are all things the Packers should’ve done with Rodgers. Even with the historic aspect of the organization, at some point, you have to look towards the here and now rather than the future.

Rodgers himself isn’t getting any younger — and after “throwing a wrench” as Rodgers put it, into the front office’s plans of moving towards the future by winning his third MVP award and having a historically strong season statistically in 2020 (70.7 percent completion, 4,299 yards passing, 48 touchdowns, five interceptions, 121.5 passer rating), why wouldn’t Green Bay try all they can at securing their cornerstone quarterback into his 40s?

The best-case scenario for all sides would be Aaron Rodgers returning to the team as the starter for 2021 and beyond. Time will tell if that will be the case but for now, it’s wait and see. This is a case that will hopefully have a good outcome, both sides are dug in, it’s just a matter of which one will budge and what it’s going to take for either side to do so.

Rodgers likely wants security/organizational reliability/communication and the Packers have no intentions to trade/get rid of Rodgers anytime soon. With three years remaining on his current contract — now would be the perfect time to give him the job security he rightfully deserves.