Aaron Rodgers discouraged free agents from signing with Packers?
Aaron Rodgers has been unhappy with the Packers dating at least back to last year’s NFL Draft. It was around that time that he reportedly began to question his future in Green Bay, and he may have expressed that doubt to players who were thinking about signing with the team.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported on Wednesday that Rodgers has been telling free agents he does not expect to remain with the Packers. He apparently began delivering that message when speaking with some of his peers a year ago.
From NFL Now on @nflnetwork: On @BobMcGinn’s “Krause” report and Aaron Rodgers’ warning #Packers prospective free agents for quite some time he wasn’t expecting to be back in Green Bay in 2021. pic.twitter.com/pXdYHffCiY
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 5, 2021
“What I’m told from multiple sources is that Aaron Rodgers was telling prospective free agents, basically, ‘Before you make any decisions — I’m probably not gonna be here,'” Garafolo said. “He was telling them, I’m told, all the way to the beginning of last season. That was in the months after the team had drafted Jordan Love.”
Garafolo questioned whether free agents took Rodgers seriously, as longtime Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari even signed an extension with the team during that timeframe. Rodgers and Bakhtiari are close friends, so that could be an indication that Bakhtiari wasn’t concerned about Rodgers leaving Green Bay.
Still, that is noteworthy. There has been talk this offseason that Rodgers hindered Green Bay’s chances of signing free agents because he refused to restructure his contract. Perhaps Rodgers was telling those same free agents that they should look elsewhere if their goal was to team up with him.
While it’s hard to imagine the Packers trading Rodgers, the situation seems like it is getting uglier by the day. Between what Rodgers reportedly told prospective free agents and the way he mocked Packers GM Brian Gutekunst, it seems like the 37-year-old has already made up his mind.
