Fear The Chorizo

It was mostly after he took the wrong side on a polarizing issue.... I don't think there is a right or wrong side to that issue itself, I've always maintained to each their own - The problem I have with Rodgers from that whole ordeal in 2021 lies with how he played games with the words he chose ("immunized") in that initial training camp presser to intentionally draw attention away from him on that issue when many other players and people who made that same decision were being crucified for it publicly and oftentimes improperly pressured by their own workplaces. He should have instead stated his own personal medical decisions are his or just been completely open and honest about his decision not to get the first round of Covid shots publicly. That being said, I've always separated Rodgers' off the field noise from his onfield performance and standing in the locker room - his performance on the field offset any of the noise the organization/fanbase had to deal with from him by leaps and bounds up until this offseason. It's not at all that the off the field stuff has gotten worse, it's that the combination of Rodgers' onfield performance/age/contract and Love sitting there ready to play makes it feel like the right time to move on. And I do think Rodgers still has a few really good seasons left in him if he can stay healthy.

Wanting to steer this over to Love - really happy for him to get this opportunity headed into year 4 as the fulltime starter with a pretty solid offensive roster. Yes, the Packers will need to pick up that 5th year option before this season starts, and most assuredly will do so - but they'll get a full 2023 season to watch him play and sort out if he's deserving of an initial contract extension that could soften that 2024 cap number (if necessary) and likely come at a bit of a discount given Love would only have 1 season as a starter...almost exactly the same setup as Rodgers' initial contract extension. I can't fathom Packer fans are spoiled enough to have history repeat itself, but what Love did in garbage time against a really god Eagle defense on thanksgiving weekend looked an awful lot like what a young Rodgers did in Dallas on a November Thursday night game a long, long time ago. Can't wait to see the kid play!

He's washed up and now he isn't preparing for the season, lol. It is weird that people have that take and then also are prematurely upset at whatever the Packers will get as a return by trading him, the annual retirement/trade circus, and his problematic contract out of town.

If he has desire to be great, it kinda sucks as that's 3 prime years he's not accumulating counting stats. And who knows what impact not playing for at least 2 of the years will have on his development. Hopefully it has about the same impact it did on Rodgers and we get to wait 13-15 more years before we're back in this same situation about a trade of a HOF Packer quarterback to the Jets, and feeling like they just won't be able to get enough return in a trade.

People that were disappointed the Packers didn't trade Rodgers after his back to back MVP awards last offseason will be disappointed with the trade return this time around no matter what it is. ARod is pushing 40 yrs old and will have an insane cap hit to any team that trades for him and hopes he plays for them at least a couple more seasons - of course the Packers aren't getting multiple 1st rounders for him, and they never were (including last offseason, IMO). Packers currently sit under the salary cap with both Love and Rodgers' current contracts on the books - a big part of the return they will get from trading Rodgers SHOULD be salary cap relief by getting all of his cap # off their books for 2024 and at worst maintain his current cap number with a trade. The Jets on the other hand have to get Rodgers at this point and the sooner they do so, the better for their 2023 outlook - the Packers should be in zero hurry, because it's not like a quick trade before June 1 would suddenly free up a mountain of cap space to go out and sign free agents. That cap # is a sunk cost for the Packers' 2023.

In my perfect world at the moment, I think it would be awesome if Rodgers says he'd be good with a trade to the Jets as long as they sign all his guys + OBJ, the Jets then sign all of them and somehow find a way to make the cap implications work, and then the Packers trade him to the Colts.

Honestly, I don't really get the big issue with the current FO. They've had some god-awful 3rd round picks and yeah nothing's been perfect, but generally I feel like attempts have been made to improve things with varying results. It's much more acceptable to have god-awful 3rd round picks behind solid to really good 1st and 2nd round picks, rather than the other way around like the end of the previous GM's run was doing. The front office has been just fine with how they've built and retooled the roster over the years under the constraints of having a veteran quarterback carrying a massive contract. Look at what Tampa Bay has had to do this offseason even after TB12 had more team-friendly contracts while playing the same retire/unretire nonsense over the same stretch of time. People will say "well, at least they won a Super Bowl", which is fair - but even with the crappy end of half defensive call in that NFCCG, Rodgers had multiple chances late in that game to win it and he didn't get it done.

Kind of feeling a bit like bank execs, the Fed, and Gov't representatives in control of the economic levers of power are in the same boat as a young Kevin Bacon. I don't think we're on the verge of an economic disaster, but I also have zero trust in the bank exec and finance talking head reassurances of recent days while acting like they know exactly how this is going to play out. There are many banks that are way overleveraged in the current interest rate environment, which is only going to get worse.

I think I said it right after his training camp presser a few seasons ago - GM is not something ARod will ever do based on his propensity to value over the hill veterans on 53 man rosters.

He ran a spread offense in college that was a 1 read system and OSU routinely had mismatches all over the field due to talent superiority - it's easy to have a 70% completion percentage when you're throwing to largely uncovered receivers or against defenses that have to sell out to stop a running game. I think those concerns should also be looked at long and hard with evaluating whether Stroud or for that matter Young are going to become stars at the NFL level in this year's draft. Fields is not an accurate passer at the NFL level and routinely throws into schemed coverages, and nothing about his 1st two seasons in the NFL indicates he's about to develop into a competent passer. His propensity to run alot sets him up for injuries. It would be the most Bears thing to do to sign Fields to a longterm extension and waste their current rebuild plan with an average and inconsistent NFL quarterback. I think they would've been better off trying to trade Fields and then picking "their guy" at the top of this year's draft.

So the holdup is potentially a 4-time MVP quarterback wanting to make sure the Jets sign a great run blocking WR to a free agent contract before he is good with getting traded there, too? I mean, I get wanting some familiarity around you in the huddle, but honestly is Rodgers wants "his guys" with him, he should have latched on to better guys.

The problem will be giving a huge chunk of future cap space and hitching their wagon to Fields, who isn't a longterm answer at quarterback for a team who wants to perennially contend. And they should have a ton of cap space with the godawful roster they had last season that earned them the #1 overall pick.

The only team really being hurt by any sort of delay is the Jets at this point...perhaps he's just giving them a taste of what they're in for the next 1+ seasons. My guess would be the trade isn't finalized because both the Packers and Jets are sorting out draft compensation options should Rodgers play more than 1 season in New York, and possibly sorting out a restructure of Rodgers' existing deal to even make that a possibility for the Jets without carrying a massive cap # in 2024. GB was never going to be a major player in free agency this season no matter what Rodgers opted to do - they're just sorting out 2023 draft options, and perhaps filling a roster hole or two with a mid tier free agent on the O line or safety.

This regarding Favre is spot on - there are stories everywhere from the 1st half of his career that just don't have the cellphone/social media proof of his exploits that would've been comparable or even more of a scandal than Deshaun Watson. Favre was fortunate to have played most of his career before social media/smartphones made everyone's world a whole lot smaller and accessible. In the 90s/early 2000s, many of those stories were either chalked up to "boys being boys" or just willfully disregarded as a biproduct of Favre's issues with pain meds and alcohol.

I think many people identified more with Favre than Rodgers. Favre's deer-hunting, wrangler wearing, lawn mower riding, personality seems to fit more with the regular fan than Rodger's more CA-lifestyle type personality. And especially over the past years as he has either changed or let people know more about himself. Or Favre's croc-wearing cell phone d-pics to sideline reporters, northwoods tail-chasing with his buddy Chmura, and propensity to try and bilk his home state welfare fund to build a volleyball arena....a true man of the people! Favre's aww-shucks persona is a fraud. Rodgers is weird, has a spiraling taste in increasingly bizarre women, and appears to hold grudges/look for slights everywhere he can to the benefit of nobody...but it doesn't seem like he's posing or putting on an act only when the cameras are on. Let's be honest, many people have recently amplified the Rodgers off field drama just about every veteran QB has when teams bring in a young QB who could very well be the heir apparent because he chose not to get a Covid shot and then proceeded to get cute with words saying he was "immunized" instead of just being open about it. Assuming a trade to the Jets or other team happens in the near future, I hope both sides move on respectfully and Love takes full advantage of his opportunity to take the reins of a pretty decent roster in a winnable division for 2023. It would be a double-rainbow unicorn miracle for the onfield transition to be as seamless from Rodgers - Love as it was from Favre - Rodgers, but I do think the parting of ways is going to be smoother than that training camp when the ol' gunslinger decided to show up in Green Bay after retiring.

lolz...

eww....nope, not with the structure Wilson already has baked into his rookie deal being a #2 overall pick. Assuming Rodgers is dealt I doubt Packers' brass would even want any semblance of a QB competition with Love headed into training camp, as Gute's own job security likely depends on what Love does as a starter over the next 1+ season. People always talk about needing to get to the top of the draft to pick a franchise quarterback - well, what happens when you miss is you wind up trading a bunch of draft capital AND cut veteran salary elsewhere to try and bring in a veteran QB in the twilight of his career to make a run before your roster blows up in a couple seasons. The Jets are currently over the cap by a couple million dollars, so any trade for Rodgers likely means a handful of restructures and a few more cuts for the Jets to make room for even some of his contract.

I do think there are multiple teams that would be interested in trading for Rodgers - but the Jets make the most sense with Hackett there...although it would be ironic if Rodgers stays in GB or goes elsewhere, the Jets' offense continues to stink and Hackett is fired for the 2nd time in as many years after he was hired by other organizations with the thought of him being a key to land Rodgers. Part of the return of trading Rodgers is getting out from under his contract and the yearly drama that follows around what an aging HOF quarterback will do at the end of each season, and handing the keys to a different young QB who is as ready as he'll be to become a starter.

I think there's a difference between an organization falling off a cliff for an extended period of time primarily due to poor management, and an organization taking an extended step back into the NFL blob after their HOF quarterback isn't under center anymore. Packer fans haven't been in that blob for 30 years and honestly don't remember what it's like to have a decent quarterback that needs a talented roster around him to be a consistent playoff contender - otherwise there's an ebb and flow to contention windows and a much higher turnover in the front office/coaching levels of an organization that tends to lead to quarterback turnover, too. Only Peyton Manning has won more league MVPs than Rodgers in NFL history, and there are 7 MVPs between Rodgers and Favre over the last 28 seasons....not having a 1st ballot HOFer who's going to be an annual MVP candidate leading your team is a huge step backwards in terms of having a shot at winning a title year in and year out. I think Rodgers is at the end of his career in being considered a MVP-caliber quarterback due to age and physical limitations beginning to creep back into his game (particularly in cold weather, a common theme for aging star quarterbacks), so I'm ready for the Packers to move on from him even without factoring in the salary cap/financial benefit of trading Rodgers. I don't care about any of the "off the field weirdness", and frankly I doubt front offices do either.

I'm pretty sure Clark has already been restructured this offseason to improve that cap hit for 2023 as much as possible. I do agree a Bakh restructure could help alot - but they be better off doing nothing with that contract to keep cap and roster decision flexibility with him next offseason. Heck, if Rodgers is traded and they do need some extra cap room for a rookie class I wouldn't be opposed to trying to deal Bakh for picks or proven NFL talent, also - I think a post June 1 trade of Bakh would have significant cap savings. Gary extension does carry some risk with him recovering from the ACL injury, but also would make sense for some cap savings.

Agreed, and I also think the Brewers need to focus on retaining core players through their age 30 season while avoiding paying them going free agent market amounts too many years beyond 30 - that means finding players to extend and buy out a couple free agent seasons most of the time, not trying to extend multiple veterans into their mid and late 30's for huge sums of $$. And it also means being willing to move on from core players before age starts leading to diminishing returns on the field. The trio of Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames IMO should not be extension candidates for Milwaukee due to this approach - particularly when they already have 1 veteran player (Yelich) locked into a longterm contract way into his 30s. Burnes will hit free agency after his age 29 season, and both the length of a free agent contract and annual amount he's going to get elsewhere make zero sense for Milwaukee to even offer. Woodruff will hit free agency after his age 31 season, so any sort of longterm contract for a pitcher already on the wrong side of 30 makes little sense. Adames will be 28-29, so that might be an option if he'd accept a 3-4 year contract, but the recent contracts signed by FA shortstops are much longer than that so I don't think that contract framework is a realistic scenario.

If he's traded now, doesn't Rodgers' 2023 cap hit in GB go from $31M and change to ~$40M? That would just mean a $9M cap hit increase on this year's salary cap plus save the Packers close to $16M in actual salary paid out this year. The Packers currently sit between $17-18M under the cap with Rodgers' number at $31.2M - trading him before 6/1 would mean the Packers are still $8-9M under the cap if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure if that amount is enough to cover all draft pick salaries, but it'd be very close and only minor roster adjustment would be needed for this year. If GB trades Rodgers, they should do it before 6/1 so all the dead money cap issues fall off the books at the end of the 2023 league year and they find themselves with a healthy financial situation and extra draft picks to help the team this season.

Given other teams are now confirmed by named sources to be talking with Rodgers, I think this doomsday scenario never happens, and the most likely outcome is Rodgers gets dealt before this year's draft - there has been some talk about waiting till June 1 before trading Rodgers to spread that cap hit across 2023 and 2024 league years, but GB currently has the cap space to absorb the full cap hit a pre-June 1 trade of Rodgers would cause. I think it's worth moving fast in order to bolster this year's roster with draft picks brought in from the trade - this approach also would free up a ton of 2024 cap space for a Gary extension, Love extension potentially early in the 2024 league year, etc. The fact other teams are flying planes to go talk to Rodgers means Rodgers' preference is to play elsewhere in 2023 and the Packers are going to find a way to make that happen quickly.

I'd rather have a safety with a 4.5-4.7 40 time who has great ball skills and the ability to blow up a play based on his football instincts and aggressive decision making than a safety who gets to show off his 4.3-4.4 speed constantly chasing down pass catchers after blowing coverage assignments/missing tackles or running backs after filling the wrong hole. You can be an elite safety in today's NFL without having world class speed - especially on a team with cornerbacks who can run.

Or it would be twitter being twitter, as Hackett ( a friend and member of the Jets' organization) could have just called Rodgers (or vice versa) to catch up with him and somebody ran with that information to Wingo. Teams giving permission for veteran players to talk with members of other organizations they know well/have history with could easily be done proactively to remove concerns of tampering the league wouldn't want to bother looking into. Until it's reported with named sourcing that Rodgers actually had a call with the Jets front office about playing with the Jets after a trade, it could be anything or nothing.