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‘Patient Patriots’ Could Land Future Hall-of-Famer

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Aaron Rodgers

Getty Will Aaron Rodgers go to the Patriots?

Just hours ahead of the 2021 NFL draft, ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped a bombshell related to NFL MVP and Green Bay Packers superstar Aaron Rodgers that the New England Patriots and the rest of the league should be interested in this year and for 2022.

According to Schefter, sources say Rodgers has grown so “disgruntled” with the team that he has asked to be traded. 

NBC Sports’ Tom E. Curran laid out a scenario that would see the “patient Patriots” having a legitimate shot to acquire Rodgers in 2022 if they don’t pull off the improbable blockbuster move for him during the NFL draft:

[Tom] Brady beat back the Garoppolo challenge with Super Bowl wins but the Patriots didn’t fold their tent and commit to him. That was their mistake. Is that a cautionary tale for Green Bay? If it is and the Packers decide to move Rodgers, would Belichick be interested? Would it be an admission that the team stubbed its toe with Brady? Or has the team improved sufficiently in key offensive areas so that it makes sense to spend on a player like Rodgers? Brady is the greatest jockey of all time, but he wasn’t winning any races with that nag of an offense the Patriots had in 2019 or 2020 and he knew it. What happened with Brady will happen with Rodgers just like it happened with Rodgers’ predecessor, Brett Favre and Brady’s predecessor, Drew Bledsoe. It’s not going to happen this year. But if you’re the Patriots, you want to keep your options open as long as you can until the answer is revealed. And the answer isn’t in trading up in this draft.

Rodgers to the Patriots Has Been Discussed Before

Before the Patriots splurged on free-agent talent this offseason, the speculation around Rodgers landing in New England had already begun. Back in January, USA Today’s Henry McKenna talked about the possibilities:

The Patriots have leverage with [Bill] Belichick at the helm and they have a ton of cap space to work with. New England is returning key players who opted-out last season and there’s a slew of talented free agents that would immediately be interested if Rodgers were to be traded. It’s far-fetched at the moment and strings would have to be pulled, but that won’t stop the speculation from fans and media throughout the offseason.

With Rodgers unhappy, as Schefter reported, the speculation looks a little more legitimate. The Patriots would seemingly be the kind of organization that would appeal to Rodgers, although one could suggest he’d also be inclined to join Packers rival the Chicago Bears as a way to try to stick it to his former club twice a year.

Social Media Reacts to the Rodgers Rumors

As you might expect, social media went nuts with the speculation. Queue the here-comes-Belichick GIFs:

Everyone seems to think Patriots fans will be over the moon if the team has a chance to bring Rodgers to Foxborough.

Others forecast the mega-event that would be the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers regular-season matchup featuring a Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers head-to-head battle.

More importantly, Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Bezan explained the Patriots wouldn’t have an issue fitting the future HOFers’ contract on their books.

We’ll be watching this situation closely for the next week or until we know exactly what the Patriots will do at the quarterback position.

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Brian Mazique is a veteran sports contributor who covered the NFL, NBA and UFC for Heavy.com from 2020 to 2023, with a focus on the New England Patriots and Chicago Bulls. His work has been featured at Forbes, Bleacher Report and his YouTube channel "Unique Mazique." More about Brian Mazique

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