Well, nobody can say the San Francisco 49ers don’t shoot their shots.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the 49ers reached out to the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday — one day before the 2021 NFL draft and armed with the No. 3 overall pick — about trading for veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers, adding that no formal offer was made to acquire the reigning NFL MVP.
Pelissero also said that, per a source, there is a “zero percent chance” the Packers are interested in dealing away Rodgers at this time, confirming what the Packers have said about their current starting quarterback at every turn since their postseason run ended in January.
“Aaron is our guy,” Gutekunst said Monday during his pre-draft press conference. “He’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future. We’re excited about the things we’re going to try to accomplish here over the next couple of years.”
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Schefter Drops Bomb About Rodgers’ Intentions
Not long after Pelissero’s report about the 49ers’ trade interest in Rodgers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped a bombshell of a report on NFL Live that the Packers are locked into a “standoff” with Rodgers, who has reportedly told Green Bay’s brass that he does not want to return to the team.
Per Schefter, the source of Rodgers’ unhappiness dates back to last year’s draft and their decision to move up for first-round quarterback Jordan Love, which was not something Rodgers was told about ahead of time. The Packers have tried to appeal to him and have even offered to extend his contract, but Rodgers has reportedly not budged about his desire to play elsewhere.
Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers is so disgruntled with the Green Bay Packers that he has told some within the organization that he does not want to return to the team, league and team sources told ESPN on Thursday.
More on NFL Live now….
Rodgers’ Contract Situation Remains Unchanged
Rodgers’ contract is not set to expire until after the 2023 season, seemingly giving the Packers several more years before a decision is needed on his long-term future. He is, however, out of guaranteed money on his current deal, which means Green Bay will have their first realistic opportunity to explore moving on from Rodgers after the upcoming NFL season.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Rodgers understands that and is seeking more assurances from the Packers that will make it more difficult for them to replace him with Love down the line. One way to do that would be signing him to a new contract extension, but they could also potentially meet some of his needs with a restructuring of his current deal — something that does not require Rodgers’ permission for the Packers to get done.
So far, though, the Packers have not gotten anything done with Rodgers’ contract. They chose not to convert his $6.8 million roster bonus into a signing bonus for cap relief and paid it out earlier this offseason, but the conversion window is still open on Rodgers’ $14.7 million base salary. While it looks like reluctance, Schefter’s report makes it seem like Rodgers is the piece that is refusing to move.
“We’re going to have to do probably a few things with different contracts as we head toward the season and through the season and make sure our salary-cap situation not only this year but in 2022 is square,” Gutekunst said Monday. “We’re not done yet, we’ve done a lot to get here. We’ve kind of been doing things as we go and we will continue to do that as we go.”
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Packers Respond to Trade Inquiry About Aaron Rodgers: Report