AFC Contender Urged to Trade For Packers QB Aaron Rodgers

Getty Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers runs into the tunnel after defeating the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)

Potential suitors for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers are beginning to drop like flies.

On Monday, March 6, the New Orleans Saints signed Derek Carr to a four-year deal. On the same day, the Seattle Seahawks inked Geno Smith to a three-year contract. Neither the Saints nor the Seahawks were primary contenders in the Rodgers sweepstakes, but two teams with QB questions who could have used Rodgers’ help are no longer in the market for a signal caller.

Two franchises that still are looking for help under center are the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets. The Jets are still “in on” Rodgers, per a Monday report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Meanwhile, the Raiders are believed to be out on Rodgers, per a report from Vic Tafur of The Athletic on March 2.

However, the team over at ESPN’s Football Outsiders believes that Las Vegas pulling itself out of the running for Rodgers’ services could prove a mistake.

Rodgers Trade to Vegas Can be Lucrative For Both Packers, Raiders

GettyQuarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers celebrates after a successful two-point conversion against the Chicago Bears during a game at Soldier Field on December 4, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Publishing a barrage of “bold moves” that each franchise should consider this offseason, the Football Outsiders wrote on March 3 that the boldest move on the table for the Raiders is taking a swing at the four-time MVP quarterback out of Green Bay.

If Rodgers can still be the future Hall of Famer, back-to-back MVP, leader in passing DVOA in both 2020 and 2021 — then he’s an upgrade for all but the tiniest handful of teams. And even in 2022, a down year where he played through a broken thumb and dealt with breaking in a new receiving corps, he still managed an above-average passing DVOA.

Reuniting him with Davante Adams is an obviously tempting idea, and imagining what he could do with Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow is exciting. When you can add an MVP quarterback to your roster, you do it.

So why is it a bold move? Because Rodgers is going to turn 40 years old next season, will cost the Raiders a ton in draft capital and/or key players to acquire and has a contract that has a dollar sign and the word “whatever he wants” after it.

Rodgers’ Contract Could be Obstacle to Trade With Raiders or Jets

GettyGreen Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains a viable trade option for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Perhaps the biggest issue beyond Rodgers’ age and what a team like the Raiders would have to give up in trade to acquire him is the quarterback’s historically expensive contract. Fowler spoke to that issue Monday on ESPN’s morning program Get Up.

“I’ve talked to multiple teams in the quarterback market right now who say that Aaron Rodgers’ $58 million guaranteed money is an issue,” Fowler said. “Teams are going to want to rework that or have Green Bay help facilitate, maybe eating some of that money. And so that is a roadblock right now.”

Coming to an arrangement with a trade partner would work both ways for the Packers, however. The more money the team is willing to absorb out of Rodgers’ $58 million guaranteed, the better players and/or draft picks Green Bay will be able to ask for in return.

And, of course, everything is moot until Rodgers announces whether he will play in 2023, and for which team he’d prefer to suit up. The QB has been quiet on those subjects since ending his darkness retreat approximately one week ago, though answers on all fronts are expected soon.