Matt Loede
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Green Bay Packers’ 37-year-old, three-time MVP Aaron Rodgers remains a member of the roster, but there’s more and more scuttle that he WON’T be with the team once the season kicks off in New Orelans on September 12th.
Monday Morning QB author Peter King spoke about Rodgers in his weekly column on Monday, saying that the quarterback “is solid on never playing for the Packers again.”
The writer says that the Packers and Rodgers are not seeing eye to eye, and that Rodgers won’t report for team OTAs or for camp until they resolve their ongoing saga.
King believes that Green Bay is going to shop Rodgers on the trade market and will look to move him following this upcoming season, no matter how it all shapes out.
The long time SI author goes on to say that things would go a lot more smoothly if the Packers could get a list of teams he would be willing to play for. Rodgers has been rumored to be heading out west to play for a team like the 49ers. The biggest question is which team is going to ante up a king’s ransom for Rodgers’ services.
The QB collected $6.8 million in a roster bonus back in March, and the Packers will probably want to get that money back if Rodgers declines to show up at practice.
Another player who also isn’t likely to show up for practice is leading wide out Davante Adams. Adams and most of the Packers’ other top receivers skipped voluntary OTAs, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that they’re all expected to be there for mandatory work.
At this point, maybe the Pack should just call his bluff, if he doesn’t play then he has to give back $30M+ to the team and frees up a bunch of cap space…then they trade him after the season. Not ideal, but seems the likely approach.
FORBES says Green Bay franchise is valued at $3.05B value…#14 franchise value in NFL.
Green Bay has an iconic “stadium” (barely) where 66,000 of the 81,000 capacity can sit (mostly stand) on aluminum bleachers without seat backs and where the fans are encouraged to bring shovels to clear the snow and spread ice melt in the stands; a $12/hr tradition.
If Rodgers says “adios”, the team won’t make it to .500 (17-game schedule this year) and if they can’t find another 10-yr Favre or 10-yr Rodgers ASAP what will happen to the value of the franchise?
Maybe 5 or 6 years toiling in the purgatory of the NFL North, free agents saying “uh, no thanks”.
Green Bay is the smallest NFL market, and ranked 139th in the country.
No playoffs extra revenue…no prime-time NFL games.
Snowball effect.
Rick – the same things were said about the Packers in the 80s…they’d never return to glory, how wrong those skeptics were. I heard “no way a free agent would go to Green Bay”…and then Reggie White showed up. Lambeau is the most historic, iconic stadium in the league…and they’ve built an entire Titletown District around the stadium to generate year-round, non-football revenues…and the Packers have one of the best fan bases in the nation. I signed my kids up for season tickets and their wait list number is 103,000. It’s a relationship with a City and State that no other NFL team has, I suppose the Chefs are the closest other example. TV revenue is shared equally across the league regardless of which teams play in primetime. Will they find another Rodgers or Favre, who knows? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but to assume the franchise will fade into oblivion isn’t accurate.
Hey MC…I actually do recall that “warning” and the Minister of Defense going there and blowing up that scenario lol. Everything you say are very fair points and accurate…the NFL does believe in socialism when it comes to revenues, but the local ancillary economy is more of what I was referring to with playoff games, and if Green Bay becomes a mid-tier team, all the NFL and TV network out-of-towners that used to show up for playoff games won’t be booking rooms, etc, etc. and local businesses will suffer also.
And the Packers did have a guy named Favre that had a little bit to do with bringing a SUPE win to Green Bay after the 1996 season as well, and we can’t forget Mike Holmgren being hired in 1992 as head coach. Reggie showed up in 1993 and the Pack didn’t win until 1996.
But the financial deal was so enormous at the time that the other teams vying for Reggie White’s services couldn’t match it. Reggie became the 3rd highest paid player in history after Elway and Marino. Let’s not forget what actually talks in negotiations…money talks.
If the Packers don’t succeed at the QB position, I would never suggest they’ll fade away, MC, but being relegated to also-rans just doesn’t seem quite right (given the last 20+ years).
Sports types always talk about certain teams playing well/being relevant being a good thing for the entire league, be it NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL…and the Packers have always been one of those teams, mostly because of Lombardi and the memory of those teams. But Green Bay can’t dominate money-wise now; everybody’s got the resources and the contract accounting techniques that weren’t there when Reggie went to the Packers. All the best…cheers !!!