Getty QB 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)
The Green Bay Packers broke the bank to bring Aaron Rodgers back in 2022, but that may not be enough to keep him around for the remainder of his historic contract.
Rodgers has flirted with the notion of retirement for a few years now, but the roughly $60 million he’s due to make next season makes that conclusion to his career in Green Bay a long shot. However, the quarterback has also been loud about wanting a trade in recent years, which is finally an outcome the Packers can justify after the 39-year-old has struggled to lead the team to a 6-8 record through 14 games this season.
One of the most logical destinations for Rodgers has always been the Las Vegas Raiders, a playoff team from last season that invested heavily in improving its 2022 roster, including signing former Packers wide receiver Davante Adams to a five-year deal after trading for him in the offseason.
Rodgers entertained the possibility of heading to the AFC West, albeit in a joking fashion, when he appeared on the show How Hungry Are You? hosted by Milwuakee Bucks player Serge Ibaka on Monday, December 19.
Ibaka asked Rodgers where he would want to play if he couldn’t play for the Packers. At first, Rodgers joked that he’d want to join the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
But Ibaka pressed the quarterback for an NFL team, to which Rodgers eventually responded, “The Oakland Raiders.”
Kernel of Truth May Exist in Rodgers’ Joke About Joining Raiders
GettyQuarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers celebrates a touchdown by wide receiver Christian Watson against the Chicago Bears during a game at Soldier Field on December 4, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Given Rodgers’ initial answer of the Argonauts, and the fact that he referred to the Raiders as playing in Oakland rather than in Las Vegas, the general assumption is that the QB was joking when he suggested he someday may want to suit up in silver and black. But when examined in depth, the proposition of Rodgers to the Raiders isn’t all that comical. In fact, it makes a good deal of sense.
Green Bay has struggled mightily this season, and Rodgers’ production has dipped to a significant extent. Following back-to-back MVP seasons, the most logical conclusion is that the lack of Adams as his No. 1 target is the primary reason for the quarterback’s decline. The two could team up again in a warmer-weather climate for the last couple campaigns of Rodgers’ career were he able to force his way to Las Vegas.
Furthermore, Raiders Nation has grown frustrated with Derek Carr, who has unquestionably been an above-average quarterback during his career with the team but has also failed to live up to the Super Bowl expectations of the historic NFL franchise.
Questions about Carr’s future with the Raiders have been prevalent over the last five years, while one NFL reporter recently suggested that his days with the team are numbered and could end as soon as this season does.
“For various reasons, this season feels different [for Derek Carr], and league sources have indicated it seems inevitable the Raiders will move on,” Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote on December 15.
Rodgers, Carr Swap Makes Sense For Timelines of Both Packers, Raiders
GettyQuarterback Aaron Rodgers (left) of the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Derek Carr (right) of the Oakland Raiders meet after the Packers beat the Raiders 42-24 at Lambeau Field on October 20, 2019 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Even despite his down season and advanced age, Rodgers still has more trade value than Carr. But both are on big contracts and both are in the top-half of signal callers in the league, making a potential deal relatively simple.
Most likely, the Raiders would need to throw in a mid-round pick along with Carr to bring Rodgers into the fold. The hypothetical move makes some sense on both sides, particularly considering the timelines of the two teams.
The Raiders are looking to win now, with Adams under contract for $140 million and flanked by complementary pass-catching playmakers in wideout Hunter Renfrow and tight end Darren Waller. Running back Josh Jacobs has had a breakout year, and while the Raiders erred by not exercising a fifth-year option on the former first-round pick’s deal that would have kept him under contract in 2023, Las Vegas can still use its franchise tag option to keep Jacobs in the offensive backfield next year.
Furthermore, the Raiders paid both Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones big money for a formidable pass rush to help them get over the hump in a competitive AFC West Division that includes the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs, a solid Los Angeles Chargers squad and the championship-level defense of the Denver Broncos.
The Packers, on the other hand, have taken a step back this season despite breaking the bank on what has been, at best, a mediocre defense. Green Bay’s rookie receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are both promising but still developing, while running back Aaron Jones is likely to depart this offseason as his contract will consume more of the Packers’ salary cap than they will likely be able to afford.
Backup quarterback Jordan Love is waiting in the wings and could compete with Carr for a starting job that is probably going to be coveted inside of another year or two of roster building. Whoever loses out will still carry significant trade value, allowing the Packers flexibility under center moving forward.
The entire discussion is moot until the season ends, as both the Packers and the Raiders are two games below .500 and clinging to outside hopes of making the playoffs. However, when the year ends, real discussions about a Rodgers/Carr trade are a possibility. And if they do occur, all jokes aside, those talks will be no laughing matter.