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As reports abound about the possibility of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers being traded and/or whether the Packers will refuse to trade him to an NFC team, there is one very important thing to remember .
Aaron Rodgers holds all the cards.
He has a fully guaranteed compensation package of $58.3 million in 2023. If the Packers want to avoid that obligation, they need to trade him where he wants to go. If that’s in the NFC, so be it.
Rodgers has the ultimate hammer. He can tell the Packers, “I’m not going.” He can force the Packers to pay him all that money, even if they’d rather serve up Jordan Love.
As Rodgers said Tuesday, none of the machinations matter until he decides if he wants to play. Then comes the question of whether he will play for the Packers or someone else. Then comes the question of whether, if not the Packers, where will he play?
If Rodgers has a new team willing to pay him and give the Packers whatever they want for Rodgers (and they do well to be sensible), the only question is whether Rodgers wants to play there.
As Rodgers conceded last week, it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have a no-trade clause. Nobody will act for him if he doesn’t want to play there. And if he makes it clear, for example, that there’s only one team he’ll play for, and if that team is in the NFC, the Packers have to decide whether to send him to that team or even welcome him back if they’d rather don’t want.