Aaron Rodgers is back in Green Bay, swapping silence for honesty about his feelings for the organisation.
After his first practice session of the 2021 season, the reigning MVP spoke to the media for 32 minutes about recruitment, retirement and being back at Lambeau Field.
Rodgers, 37, has dominated headlines since ESPN revealed he did not want to rejoin the Packers on the eve of April’s draft.
Aaron Rodgers returned to the Packers after missing out on OTAs and minicamp
Despite widespread rumours, a trade to San Francisco or Denver did not materialise, and Rodgers is back for his 17th season – one more than greats Bart Starr and Brett Favre – but perhaps his last as a Packer.
‘I really don't know,’ Rodgers said. ‘I think I'm just going to focus on this year. There's a lot of moving pieces besides myself, expiring contracts from a number of guys, so there's going to be a lot of tough decisions at the end of the year. I'm just going to enjoy this year and then revisit that conversation at the end of the season.’
Rodgers spoke about his uneasy relationship with the front office and its reluctance to commit to the three-time MVP.
‘I felt like if you can't commit to me past 2021 and I'm not part of your recruiting process in free agency, if I'm not a part of the future, then instead of letting me be a lame-duck quarterback, if you want to make a change and move forward, then go ahead and do it,’ Rodgers said.
For the first six minutes, Rodgers spoke about his offseason, saying he ‘expressed my desire to be more involved in conversations’, while offering to bring free agents to Green Bay.
‘The fact I haven't been used in those discussions is something I wanted to change moving forward,’ he said. ‘And I felt like based on my years, the way I can still play, that that should be a natural part of the conversation. As that progressed from that point, nothing really changed on that front.’
