Getty QB Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers warms up prior to a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on January 1, 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Kayla Wolf/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers are a Week 18 win over the Detroit Lions away from a trip to the postseason. But the beginning of the playoffs could mark the end of an era at Lambeau Field.
Should the Packers complete their improbable five-victory run to Wildcard Weekend on Sunday, they will step onto a field the following week somewhere outside the state of Wisconsin. As the No. 7 seed in this hypothetical, Green Bay would be the only NFC city guaranteed not to host a playoff game.
From the right perspective, this can be viewed as a positive. The last time Aaron Rodgers and the Packers won a Super Bowl, they did so by way of four consecutive postseason victories away from home. Another way to look at it is that regardless of what happens across the month of January and into early February, the four-time NFL MVP may never set foot on Lambeau Field again as Green Bay’s quarterback after this weekend.
Rodgers addressed this possibility during a media session on Wednesday, January 4, without saying definitively either way.
If #Packers win Sunday, they’ll be NFC’s 7th seed. That means no more games at Lambeau Field. Asked Aaron Rodgers if he has clarity on this potentially being his last game at Lambeau. He acknowledged possibility will be on his mind, but reiterated decision will come in offseason.
“If #Packers win Sunday, they’ll be the NFC’s 7th seed. That means no more games at Lambeau Field,” Ryan Wood of USA Today tweeted. “Asked Aaron Rodgers if he has clarity on this potentially being his last game at Lambeau. He acknowledged the possibility will be on his mind, but reiterated decision will come in offseason.”
Aaron Rodgers Has Talked Trade, Retirement in Recent Past
GettyQB Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers reacts after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 24-12 at Lambeau Field on December 19, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
While Rodgers’ acknowledgment of what will be on his mind isn’t an endorsement about his future in any specific direction, it makes one thing clear — the quarterback continues to possess an open mind about where he’ll be in 2023.
His future that has been in question ever since April of 2020, when the Packers traded up to select backup quarterback Jordan Love late in the first round of the NFL Draft. Since that time, Rodgers has mentioned retirement on multiple occasions and pushed for a trade at least once, with the clear preference of heading west to a team like the San Francisco 49ers or Las Vegas Raiders.
However, Rodgers also signed a massive three-year extension with Green Bay in the meantime, which will make his contract considerably more complicated to trade should either he and/or the organization believe that the appropriate move this offseason.
Packers Playoff Berth, WR Progress May Incentivize Aaron Rodgers to Stay
GettyWR Christian Watson of the Green Bay Packers runs for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears during a game at Soldier Field on December 4, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Rodgers has debunked the idea that rookie wide receiver Christian Watson’s mid-year leap will be a deciding factor in the 39-year-old QB’s playing future. However, Rodgers has also said openly that he will take it into consideration.
“The way Christian has developed, you definitely gotta feel good organizationally with his development,” Rodgers told reporters in early December. “It’s a rapid, wild development, and it’s hard to think about another player who goes from being kind of a here-and-there, minimal production [player] to a go-to type player, a home run player. Pretty special.”
“It’ll all factor into [my decision],” Rodgers continued, “but there’s gotta be mutual desire on both sides.”
Finishing off a 2022 run to the playoffs is liable to give Rodgers more confidence that Green Bay can produce a Super Bowl winner at some point over the next couple of years, if not this season.
Adding another weapon in the passing game also couldn’t hurt. With wideout Allen Lazard bound for free agency and a lot of savings to potentially be had by parting ways with running back Aaron Jones this offseason — a move that is, at the very least, on the Packers’ radar — Green Bay may have the kind of salary cap space that will allow the team to be an aggressive player in the wide receiver market come the offseason.
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Packers QB Aaron Rodgers Drops Big Clue About Green Bay Future