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It took nearly a month, but Aaron Rodgers finally broke his silence on Monday in regards to his frustrations with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers spoke with outgoing SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne on ESPN through a pre-taped interview, wherein he revealed some broad information about the reasons why he is dissatisfied with the team and the organization.
While it’s clear that Rodgers harbors no ill will towards Jordan Love personally — he even said “I love Jordan” in the interview — nor the actual decision to pick Love, it seems that the handling of that and other decisions under the current leadership regime have led him to the place where he is today. That place puts him at odds seemingly with team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst, as Rodgers seemingly called out every other major group in the organization in a positive light.
Where the two sides go from here is anyone’s guess. June 1st looms one week from today, and if the Packers decide to trade Rodgers after all, that would be the realistic date to consider doing so. A week after that is the start of minicamp, the first mandatory event on the offseason calendar. For now, expect no news on this front for at least the next week.
Let’s look at how some of the other members of Packers media are examining the situation in today’s Curds.
Aaron Rodgers -- Issue with Green Bay Packers about philosophy, not Jordan Love | ESPN
Talking to host Kenny Mayne, Rodgers revealed that his issues stem more with how the selection of Love was handled rather than the pick itself. If anything, this seems to suggest it was the Packers' failure to inform him of the decision that helped spark his frustrations.
Aaron Rodgers on future with Packers: ‘Anything’s on the table at this point’ | Packersnews.com
This is perhaps the most useful quote from Rodgers’ entire interview. He did not rule out a return, despite not showing up for OTAs on Monday. He also did not rule out retirement, either, but he has yet to give a clear indication of what changes he wants to see from the Packers to convince him to return.
Next Gen Stats' top 10 deep passers of 2020: Aaron Rodgers lands at No. 4 | NFL.com
As for the MVP season, Rodgers came in as the league's 4th-best deep passer in 2020 based heavily on completion percentage over expectation (CPOE).
Did Ravens swipe Bateman away from Aaron Rodgers, Packers in first round? - ESPN
A friend of Brian Gutekunst in the Ravens' front office thinks that the Packers would have chosen Batemen had he been available at 29. Instead, the Ravens grabbed him at 27 and Green Bay ended up with cornerback Eric Stokes instead.