As the offseason carries on and the Green Bay Packers and all other 31 teams get set for team programs and workouts to get underway in June, the Packers have a roster reloaded from a year ago and ready to go again in 2021. The nightmare situation still unraveling circulates around Aaron Rodgers, and the fate of Green Bay’s title chances for the immediate future rests in his lap.
If this really was some elaborate long, drawn-out idea for Rodgers, though, then why did Aaron Jones and David Bakhtiari sign extensions in the last few months?
David Bakhtiari secured the bag back in November of last year, agreeing to a contract extension that made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history. It was a well-deserved payday for the man in charge of protecting Rodgers’ blindside and has done so at an All-Pro level for years. Rodgers and Bakhtiari have formed what appears to be a tight bond over the years, yet reports this offseason have stated Rodgers has been voicing his frustrations and making it known that he wants out from Green Bay since the end of last season.
Money talks; there’s no doubt about that. Is it possible Bakhtiari knew Rodgers would be bowing out and asking for a trade, but thought the offer was too lucrative for him to pass up? It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
But you’d think a close comrade of Rodgers like Bakhtiari would at least hesitate at the idea of sticking around with a franchise that apparently is treating their superstar quarterback like dirt. Davante Adams just backed up the league MVP to the fullest extent earlier this week, questioning his own future if Rodgers is out the door in Green Bay. It’s hard to imagine he would be the only one pondering over these thoughts.
Consider this from No. 12’s perspective.
Are we to believe Rodgers kept some of his own teammates that he’s close with in the dark about this whole situation? This is the quarterback who apparently called Brian Gutekunst “Jerry Krause” in texts to his own teammates. Rodgers is a smart dude. He knows he can’t keep his feelings about the front office from the guys he plays with. And even if he were to, it would alienate him from the guys he’s closest to on the team.
Then there’s Aaron Jones.
Many believed the Packers star running back would cash a big check somewhere else this offseason, that Green Bay wouldn’t be able to afford him. Instead, the two sides were able to agree on a deal.
Again, money talks. But there had to be other suitors offering him around the same kind of money, if not more. If the culture was this toxic between Rodgers and the front office, given that rumblings of the rift started before last season when Green Bay cut Jake Kumerow, why would Jones want to stick around if he knew Rodgers would be asking out?
Apparently, Rodgers has been telling free agents all offseason he’s not returning to the Packers for months. It’s laughable even to think that he would be telling random free agents he isn’t returning to Green Bay but not feel the need to mention it to Jones, who was set to be a free agent himself.
If it turns out teammates knew this had been brewing for a while, but each looks out for themselves at the end of the day, so be it. We can accept that reality and move about our merry lives. But if it turns out guys like Bakhtiari and Jones were completely blindsided and caught off guard by all of this while others knew, then Rodgers turns out to be a massive snake in the grass. Still, I’d be hard-pressed to believe that type of next-level evil genius planning.
Listen, Bakhtiari and Jones got big-boy paid. But the notion that they would sign these extensions with every belief that this squad would go on another title run only to have the rug pulled out from under them by Rodgers would be quite the turn in this ever-pivoting horror novel. It seems like the most unlikely of all the possible avenues, but who really knows?
For the most part, fans are thrilled that Bakhtiari and Jones are sticking around. And both players share that feeling as well. How much they knew, what they knew, what they know now remains a mystery. But if both Bakhtiari and Jones signed these extensions knowing No. 12 would be gone, it could become the ultimate risk. The impact and production could take a hit knowing how critical Rodgers is to the Packers’ operation.
There’s likely to be a million more twists and turns to this story before it reaches its conclusion. Both Bakhtiari and Jones had plenty of time to sit back and consider their options if they knew about this feud between Rodgers and the front office all along.
I suppose the choice was still to take the money now and stay in Green Bay; if so, great. If they were completely naive and unknowing to all of it, and Rodgers never mentioned a word, yikes. That’s the question without an answer that many are left still wondering about.
