Packer general manager Brian Gutekunst made two significant claims on Wednesday regarding Green Bay’s stance with former Cal star Aaron Rodgers.
1. Gutekunst never told Rodgers he would trade him after the 2021 season if Rodgers wanted to join another team.
2. The Packers cannot deal with their many other roster issues until Rodgers has made his decision.
Taking the first issue first:
Adjustments were made to Rodgers’ contract before the start of the 2021 season that would make it easier for Rodgers and the Packers to separate this offseason. It has been reported that the Packers and Rodgers had an understanding that if Rodgers decides this offseason that he wants to play for another team the Packers would accommodate him.
However, Gutekunst told reporters Wednesday that he did not tell Rodgers that he would trade Rodgers if that was requested.
“That was not something I told him,” Gutekunst said according to ESPN. “Again, I think the whole conversation with Aaron last season before he came back was that, regardless, at the end of this past season, that we would sit down as a group and we would work it out one way or another.”
What “work it out one way or another” means is open to interpretation, and Gutekunst refused to speculate what the Packers would do if Rodgers said he wanted to play for another team.
Officially Rodgers is under contract with the Packers for the 2022 season, although there were conversations about possible moves before the 2021 season.
Gutekunst’s Wednesday press conference (his comments begin about 12 minutes into the video):
The second issue involves the timing of the many roster issues the Packers must address, including the free agency of wide receiver Davante Adams and salary-cap limitations.
Gutekunst made it clear that nothing happens until the Rodgers situation is settled.
“Obviously everything around here centers around the quarterback,” Gutekunst said. “That’s kind of how we do things. It’s a big piece. It’s a domino that kind of has to fall before we go down other avenues. So important in the other puzzle pieces we get to make fit. That’s the first one to go.”
Gutekunst said the Packers have set no deadline for Rodgers to make a decision about whether he will retire, stay with the Packers for 2022 or try to move to another team. But added, “He’s aware of our timeline.”
Rodgers has often said that his relationship with Gutekunst and other members of the Packers front office has improved since last offseason, when Rodgers complained about them.
Gutekunst said Wednesday his relationship with Rodgers is “in a much better place.”
Rodgers posted an Instragram message on Monday that sounded like a farewell speech that implied he plans to retire, but on Tuesday he said that was merely a gratitude message and that he has not yet decided what he will do.
Presumably Rodgers will make his decision known to the Packers within the next few weeks about whether he will retire, stay with the Packers or seek to join another team.
.
Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports
.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport
