After the 2022 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers, led by general manager Brian Gutekunst and President/CEO Mark Murphy, decided that it was time to take the keys of offense away from four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and hand them over to Jordan Love. It was a decision that sparked controversy among their own fanbase and the NFL world in general.
Love, of course, had been selected in the 2020 NFL Draft after Rodgers had a “down” season in 2019. That particular year, he completed 62.0% of his passes for 4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 95.4 passer rating.
Motivated by the “slight,” Rodgers went on to win the next two NFL MVP awards, which further cemented the foolishness of the Love pick in the eyes of many. However, in 2022, he completed 64.6% of his passes for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 91.1 passer rating.
This sharp decline in production from his previous two seasons, which saw him average a 69.8% completion percentage, 4,207 yards, 43 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 116.7 passer rating, led the team to believe it was time to move on.
Aaron Rodgers Bashed the Green Bay Packers When They Decided to Trade Him
Following the 2022 season, the worst of his NFL career (at that time), Rodgers was not certain whether he wanted to continue playing or retire. He famously embarked on a multi-day darkness retreat in an effort to gain clarity on what he truly wanted to do.
When Rodgers emerged from the darkness, he later said that he was 90% retired. But then he saw the messages. Green Bay wanted to move on.
Feeling spurned, he decided then to continue his NFL career. Throughout the process of finding a trade partner, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer claimed that Gutekunst and the Packers never called him. When they stated that they had, Rodgers said they should have Face-Timed him because he had poor cell reception at his home.
In the end, he was traded to the New York Jets. While many expected him to raise his game like he did in 2020 and 2021 after the Love pick, reality and age soon made themselves plainly clear. Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week One of the 2023 season, and followed that up with an even worse statistical season in 2024 than his “down” years in Green Bay.
All the while, Rodgers made headlines for things he said and did off the field, almost more so than he did for what he accomplished on it. From a possible Vice Presidential run, to praising Vladimir Putin, to his comments criticizing teammates, it was soon clear to New York that they, too, needed to move on.
Aaron Rodgers Proved the Green Bay Packers Right
On Thursday, Rodgers made his first public appearance and had his first media session since the Jets decided to release him. On the Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers said:
“I figured that when I flew across the country on my dime, there would be a conversation. I meet with the coach, we start talking … he runs out of the room. I’m like, that’s strange. Then he comes back with the GM. So we sit down and I think we’re going to have this long conversation, I’ve flown across the country, and 20 seconds in, I’m talking to the GM, and (Glenn) leans to the edge of his seat and says: ‘You’re sure you want to play football?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’ And he said, ‘We’re going in another direction at quarterback.’
“I just flew across the country and you could’ve told me this on the phone if we weren’t even going to have a conversation.
“I felt there wasn’t an ample amount of respect in that meeting. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised based on some things I saw over two years.”
It is rather hypocritical that Rodgers stated that he feels the Jets should have called him with news of his release when he criticized the Packers for attempting to call him back in 2022. Did his house suddenly get better cell reception?
Furthermore, the way he spoke about the Jets organization clearly indicates that he did not enjoy his time there. Ironically, after the 2024 season ended, he called his time with the Jets two of the best years of his career.
So which is it? Was he disturbed by the amount of disrespect he saw there, or did he enjoy it?
Of course, he is still bitter about being released. It is easy to understand that he would not have many good things to say about New York at the moment.
But his comments, in more ways than one, prove that the Packers were right to move on.
More Green Bay Packers News from Gridiron Heroics
- BREAKING: Packers’ QB Jordan Love Makes Massive Aaron Rodgers Announcement
- BREAKING: Jordan Love Not Happy with the Packers Front Office
- Latest Aaron Rodgers Report Does Not Bode Well for the Pittsburgh Steelers
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