Getty Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers walking on the field before an NFL game.
The Green Bay Packers and New York Jets still haven’t hammered out the details of a trade for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Most analysts and pundits assume this trade is eventually going to get done whether by hook or crook. However, there is a chance that it never comes to fruition.
“I think there’s a principle aspect to it,” Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari explained on Bussin With The Boys Pod posted on Tuesday, April 11. “If you feel like you’re going to get f***** over so much where you’re like you know what? Screw it. Were we going to go to the Super Bowl? Everybody was saying we probably weren’t anyways so f*** it, we’ll hold onto him [Rodgers] eat it [his contract].
I think they’re [the Packers] in position to take on his full salary because obviously, they wouldn’t want to show their hand. We know we are not going to use you [Rodgers], we appreciate everything you’re doing, f*** you to the other teams that aren’t giving us what we want. [We’re] not just going to give you whatever you want Aaron.”
Could the Packers Really Go That Far in Jets Trade Negotiations for Aaron Rodgers?
Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari said if the Jets don’t give the Packers what they’re seeking in trade compensation, they can simply say “f*** you” and not trade Rodgers.
“The Packers can’t go back to Rodgers,” Brian Costello explained in a column for the New York Post. “They have made the full pivot to Jordan Love, both privately and publicly.”
If Green Bay is intending on starting Love in 2023, what happens with Rodgers? Will he get paid the $60 million in cash that is owed to him to be a backup? Could they pay him to simply stay away from the team?
“Is it likely though? Could you [really] see an organization doing that? I don’t f****** think so,” Bakhtiari walking back his theory on what the Packers could do on Bussin With The Boys Pod. “But is it possible? Yeah. I mean it’s a bureaucracy there are so many people that have to agree on it because there isn’t like an owner. But if you’re an owner and you feel jaded by a guy and like slighted by him. Like you see certain big-name guys like Odell [Beckham Jr] felt very slighted from the Giants. They have an owner that’s like you know what F you we’re going to send you to where careers go to die, Cleveland at the time.”
According to Over The Cap, the Packers have $21.4 million in available cap space. The Jets have $7.9 million in available cap space.
Regardless of what happens with A-Rod whether he stays with Green Bay or gets traded to New York, there will have to be some cap gymnastics performed.
Bakhtiari said ultimately he believes the most simple thing that ends up happening is a trade gets done between the Packers and Jets.
“We’ll get whatever picks that they really wanted. It’ll come before the draft, they’ll get it, they’ll use it, and then time is going to show us.”
Aaron Rodgers Has Pushed Packers Buttons Which Leaves Door Open
Candidly it sounds insane that an NFL team would be willing to go to these lengths. For a team like Green Bay to say no to picks or assets that could help them and instead choose to let Rodgers rot on the bench or at home.
It makes more sense when you factor in the last couple of years between Rodgers and the Packers. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said Rodgers held Green Bay “hostage” this offseason and that same accusation has been floated in the past.
I’ve spoken to several Packers fans and one of the reasons they can’t wait to trade Rodgers is due to his mysterious nature. The constant pondering of retirement and what his future holds has grown tiresome for Green Bay fans.
With Rodgers holding Green Bay hostage over the years, I’m sure a small part of them has been waiting to give it back to him this offseason.
When Matthew Stafford was a member of the Detroit Lions and decided he wanted to continue his career elsewhere. Members of the front office worked with their longtime quarterback to find him a new NFL home amicably via trade.
There doesn’t seem to be that same love between the Rodgers and Packers as they’ve attempted to do the same this offseason.
That thought process explains why it’s easier to understand Bakhtiari’s “f*** you” potential trade offer because of some of those past issues.