© Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
As Herm Edwards once said, “You play to win the game!”
The Green Bay Packers did… not do that. With less than three minutes remaining, trailing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by eight points with a chance to go to the Super Bowl, Green Bay kicked the ball. They, as you might expect, did not touch the ball again and lost, 31-26.
Aaron Rodgers, like the rest of the football world, thought he was going to have an opportunity to go for the touchdown. He said that factored into his decision not to run for the ball on third down, when he had a lane to try and escape the pocket.
https://twitter.com/mattschneidman/status/1353492932876230657?s=21
After two-straight years of coming up short in the NFC Championship game, and clearly being surprised by head coach Matt Lafleur’s decision to not go for the touchdown, there was the obvious question about Rodgers’ future. The 37-year-old said he wasn’t sure about his future, nor are many of his teammates.
Aaron Rodgers: “A lot of guys futures, they’re uncertain, myself included.”
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 25, 2021
This obviously means the 49ers will be trading for Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Matt Stafford, and trading up in the draft for Zach Wilson, just to be safe (joking). If Rodgers were to force his way out, he wouldn’t come cheap. And the notion of the Packers trading him next year? Well, it’s almost farcical.
The issue is that if the Packers were to trade Rodgers before the 2021 season (and before March 15), per OverTheCap, they’d have to eat $31.5 million. In a year in which the cap is supposed to shrink significantly, that’s almost certainly not going to happen.
If he were acquired, his cap hits would be $22.72 million in 2021, $25.5 million in 2022, and $25.5 million in 2023.
