Green Bay Packers: If Aaron Rodgers wants out, show him the door

I cannot believe the level the Green Bay Packers organization bent over for this dude.  Aaron Rodgers, more successful as a Jeopardy! host than he has been as a QB for the last decade has basically thrown a temper tantrum and ghosted the Packers for the majority of the offseason.

The Green Bay Packers, playing the role of desperate ex, begged and pleaded and made a bunch of concessions to try and get Aaron to grace them with his presence for one more season.  From there, if he wants to be traded, they have put it into writing that they will trade him.

Are you kidding me? This guy, who has delivered a whopping one Super Bowl championship over a decade ago, has held one of the most storied franchises in the sport’s hostage.  This isn’t new with Aaron Rodgers, a guy who should have been in the conversation for the GOAT.

A few years ago he publicly and childishly undermined his head coach Mike McCarthy and refused to run the plays he called.  He would yell at him from the field, pout, stomp his feet, and act like a spoiled brat.  That attitude out of your franchise QB is toxic and it led to the firing of McCarthy.

Now, that attitude has permeated the team again.  Davante Adams has joined in the nonsense and posted the same “Last Dance” image with Rodgers on Instagram, signaling his desire to leave as well.  Rumors have been swirling that Adams wants to go join his friend Derek Carr in Las Vegas, which is fine if he wants to, and he has a right to.  That’s what free agency is for.

Here is the problem, Green Bay caved and begged and pleaded and made themselves look like absolute chumps in this saga.  It is a player-driven league, whether the owners like it or not.  So, when a guy says he wants out, it’s best to just move on.

But no, the organizations want to show that they are the ones in control, so they call the reports fake, or fine the player, or do what the Green Bay Packers did and stick their fingers in their ears and shout, “I can’t hear you,” over and over again.

“So you would have traded the MVP?” Exactly.  His value will literally never be this high again.  Before he went public with his trash attitude, I would have shipped him out of town in a heartbeat.  Denver was on its knees begging for him and Green Bay could have gotten a king’s ransom for him.

Three first-round picks feels doable, four might even happen, but instead the Packers opted to get nothing for him and promise a trade next year.

You know what his value will be in those trade talks?  Nothing.  You need leverage to negotiate a deal, now we are about to watch Aaron Rodgers sleepwalk his way through this season and then be traded for a bag of balls.  Good on you Green Bay, you win the trophy for the biggest botched handling of a disgruntled star.

Instead of receiving a king’s ransom, the Green Bay Packers are stuck with a prima donna who is going to leave them anyway.  I know what people are going to say, “you need a franchise QB to win,” and if that’s so important then why haven’t the Green Bay Packers won more?  Or maybe the fact of the matter is that while Aaron Rodgers is probably the most talented thrower of the football I have ever seen, his attitude is such garbage that it makes his team worse.

Green Bay should have simply said, “You want out? There is the door.”  You drafted Jordan Love in the first round last year for a reason, hopefully, a half-decent one. You might as well get some return on investment here.  If you feel like you blew it with Love, admit it and go have the Broncos send Teddy Bridgewater in the Rodgers deal and draft a QB next year.

And no, I haven’t forgotten Adams either.  Ship him to Vegas, they’ll pay too much because they are still the Raiders and you’ll end up with an army of high draft picks to kick start your rebuild.

I don’t think I can put this any nicer, but this has been a disaster.  If Rodgers wants out, show him the door.