Bob McGinn, a longtime Packers writer, says that the team is “disgusted” and “done” with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
McGinn covered the Packers for nearly four decades at the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel before retiring in 2017. He now contributes to former Journal-Sentinel colleague Tyler Dunne’s Substack, called “Go Long TD.”
The two spoke together on a podcast for the site, where McGinn said his “instincts” have him believing the Packers are preparing to part ways with their longtime signal caller.
“As of right now, I’m convinced — based on my own instincts and knowing the NFL and knowing what happens after all these defeats and discussions with someone who has first-hand knowledge of this organisation, of the Packers’ internal debates — that they are done with Rodgers,” McGinn said. “That’s the way it is right now, that he’s not coming back. They’re disgusted with him and they’re done with him and they’re moving on. This is going to involve money and a trade partner and all kinds of things.
Week 17
“On the other hand, they love Jordan Love. They think he’s the second coming now. They’ve seen enough in practice for three years, that they believe he is like Rodgers 2.0. That’s where this organisation is coming from right now. They have turned the page, just like they did to Favre in June and July, those months in the summer of 2008 and I don’t see it changing.”
The 39-year-old Rodgers has been the subject of trade speculation and innuendo this off-season. The Post’s Brian Costello confirmed Sunday that the Jets had preliminary trade talks with the Packers about Rodgers in the event he becomes available.
Adam Schefter reported that a trade is a “very real possibility,” and Rodgers himself has been noncommittal about what he wants for the future. Rodgers is currently in the middle of a four-day darkness retreat where the answer might or might not come to him. The Packers went 8-9 and missed the playoffs this past season. Rodgers did not play up to the standard of his previous two seasons in which he was the league’s MVP.
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McGinn, who has had notably frosty coverage of Rodgers for a number of years, claimed that Rodgers would be Jordan Love’s backup if he returns to Green Bay next season.
“Even if Rodgers comes back to collect that $59 million, I think he’s the backup,” McGinn continued. “He could try to ruin the whole operation. But he knows that’s not going to happen and he’s going to accept a trade somewhere. He knows he can’t live with that, with the Packers’ fans and everybody. It’s Love’s turn.
“The organisation’s going that way. And that’s the way it is. This is everybody, I’m told. This is [team president Mark] Murphy. This is [head coach Matt] LaFleur. This is [GM Brian] Gutekunst. This is the whole shooting match. They’ve turned the page. They don’t see Rodgers as a guy who’s really working hard anymore. They see a guy who — when he reported this year — his body wasn’t so-called ‘tight’ and strong as it was. They see a guy who blew off the off-season last year. … They’re done. It’s a hard guy to be done with.”
McGinn’s comments are at odds with what Packers brass have said publicly.
“We made a really big commitment to him last off-season, so I think as we did that, it wasn’t certainly for just this year,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said in January, referring to an extension Rodgers signed a year ago that ties him to the Packers through 2026.
Last week, team president Mark Murphy told ESPN’s Dianna Russini that the ball is in Rodgers’ court on if he wants to return to the Packers, and that the team was hoping for a decision by the start of free agency in March.
This story originally appeared on the NY Post and is reproduced with permission.
