Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who won his third NFL MVP award after the 2020 season, still has three years remaining on a four-year, $134 million contract extension he signed in 2018. Jeffrey Phelps/Associated Press
On an NFL Draft day already flooded with quarterback rumors, reports surfaced five hours before the first pick that reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers may want out of Green Bay.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news with a series of tweets:
“Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers is so disgruntled with the Green Bay Packers that he has told some within the organization that he does not want to return to the team, league and team sources told ESPN on Thursday.”
That was followed by: “There never has been an NFL MVP traded after winning the award in the previous season. The only MVPs not to return to their team in the season after winning the award were Norm Van Brocklin (retired after winning MVP in 1960) and Jim Brown (retired after winning MVP in 1965).”
Reports surfaced earlier in the day that the 49ers had explored trading picks and Jimmy Garoppolo for Rodgers but were rebuffed by the Packers.
The 37-year-old quarterback has spent his entire career in Green Bay. The Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft, sparking reports that Rodgers was upset that he hadn’t been informed of the move and the team was starting a succession plan. Rogers has played all 16 games in six of the last seven seasons.
Rodgers completed 70.7% passes last season for 4,299 yards and a career-high 48 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. He led Green Bay to the NFC championship game, where it lost to Tampa Bay, in a game that will be remembered for Coach Matt LaFleur’s controversial decision to kick a field goal with just over two minutes left and the Packers down by eight.
Rodgers, 37, has spent his entire career with Green Bay since the Packers selected him with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 draft. But his long-term future has been a topic of speculation ever since the Packers traded up four spots in the first round to select Love, a potential successor, with the 26th overall pick in last year’s draft.
Rodgers has three years remaining on his contract after signing a four-year, $134 million extension in August 2018.
Schefter reported that LaFleur and members of the Green Bay front office have flown to meet with Rodgers during the offseason in hopes of repairing the relationship. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst expressed optimism this week on a conference call with the media.
“We’re excited about kind of the things we’re going to try to accomplish here over the next couple years,” Gutekunst said. “We had to do a lot of things (with contracts) to bring guys back this year and we’ll have to do that again. So we’re not done by any means yet, and we are working through that with a number of our players, including Aaron.”
Separately Gutekunst told ESPN: “As we’ve stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond. Aaron has been a vital part of our success and we look forward to competing for another championship with him leading our team.”
Rodgers acknowledged after last year’s draft that he was surprised by the Love selection and that it complicated his hopes of finishing his career with Green Bay.
Even as Rodgers earned his third MVP award, he referred to his future as a “beautiful mystery.” During a Zoom session with reporters following the Packers’ NFC championship game loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rodgers said that “a lot of guys’ futures are uncertain, myself included.”
TIM TEBOW could be returning to the NFL. If nothing else, he’s at least got the eyes of an NFL team.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Tebow had a workout recently with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end. Rapoport also notes that “there has been at least some discussion of him signing.”
Tebow, 33, last appeared in the NFL as a quarterback during the offseason with the Philadelphia Eagles, a year after his short stint in training camp with the New England Patriots. After that, Tebow then made a bid to switch careers to baseball and eventually made it as high as Triple-A.
Now, it seems as though Tebow is willing to move to a non-quarterback role to try and land a job in the NFL.
Tebow, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida, had a much-hyped playoff run with the Denver Broncos but continued to struggle with accuracy and decision-making.
Ultimately, the Broncos moved on from Tebow, who bounced around to the Jets, Patriots and Eagles as teams tried to bring out his potential.
While in the NFL, there was speculation that Tebow would be better served as a full-time tight end, but he resisted such a move.
SEAHAWKS: Seattle signed defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, a former first-round draft pick who has made just six starts since entering the NFL in 2016.
Nkemdiche was the 29th overall pick of the 2016 draft by Arizona and appeared in 27 games over three seasons with six starts. His production was underwhelming, cresting with a career-high 32 tackles and 4½ sacks in the 2018 season. Nkemdiche’s 2018 season was cut short by a knee injury that required surgery and eventually led to his release by Arizona after failing his physical.
Nkemdiche last played in the NFL in 2019 with Miami, where he appeared in two games. He was also briefly suspended by the NFL during the 2019 season for an undisclosed violation of league rules.
SAINTS: New Orleans exercised the fifth-year option on defensive end and 2018 first-round draft choice Marcus Davenport, General Manager Mickey Loomis said Thursday.
The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Davenport, for whom the Saints traded up to draft 14th overall out of Texas-San Antonio, has played in 37 games with 14 starts and has 12 1/2 career sacks. Davenport played in 11 games with one start last season after missing the first four weeks of the season with an elbow injury. He made 22 tackles in 2020, including 1 1/2 sacks.
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