It will be an important offseason for the Green Bay Packers and their legendary signal caller Aaron Rodgers, who is looking to make a decision on his future with the team ahead of free agency on March 16th.
It appears that, for the Packers, Rodgers and pending free agent wide receiver Davante Adams could be a package deal if anything.
The Packers could utilize the franchise tag on the All-Pro receiver, and they can do so starting on February 22nd, and will have until March 8th to exercise that option. Re-signing Adams will be a big factor in the team retaining Rodgers who has made it clear he does not want to be part of a rebuild.
Rodgers would likely see an Adams departure as that.
Doing so won’t be easy for Green Bay, who are currently a $44.8 million over the projected salary cap for the 2022 season, and that’s not including Adams. Franchise tagging Adams could come with a price tag approaching $20 million.
“I’d like to be respectful of the organization” Rodgers said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “One decision that will be upcoming will be obviously Davante and his future with the team. There still is this thing called a franchise tag, which I don’t think ’17’ wants the franchise.
“I think that should be enough time to make a decision by then. I don’t want to put myself on a specific date, but I do want to be sensitive to Davante and many other guys who have decisions to make on their own futures. To drag it out past free agency would be disrespectful to the organization and to those guys, and that 100 percent will not happen.”
Rodgers has one year left on his deal, so his only options are a trade demand or retirement. Rodgers made it clear that he would not sit our a season just to come back and hit free agency.
“I don’t have any desire to do that; that makes no sense,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers also spoke about his talks with the organization at the end of the season, particularly general manager Brian Gutekunst.
“I feel like I’m at the place relationally with the Packers — in a really good place, especially with Brian and the way our friendship and trust has grown — where it would be a simple conversation and whatever comes out of the conversation is moving forward,” Rodgers said. “There’s not going to be a weird standoff, war of silence or anything. Brian and I have had good conversations throughout the year, and when it comes time to make a decision, we’ll have a conversation and that’ll be that. It won’t be a long, drawn-out process. “
