After skipping mandatory minicamp last month, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has an uncertain future.
Rodgers is unhappy with the organization and it’s unclear if his relationship with the team can be repaired. This week, former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer weighed in on Rodgers’ situation in Green Bay.
“I think it’d be sad to have a season without watching Aaron Rodgers play,” Plummer said during an interview with Broncos Wire about his upcoming movie, Kick. “But if he could take a year off and come back, imagine how fresh he would be next time they play again. As far as him coming back with the Packers, I don’t know [if it can be resolved].”
Plummer played for the Arizona Cardinals from 1997-2002 and then for the Denver Broncos from 2003-2006. Denver picked Jay Cutler in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft with plans of him becoming Plummer’s eventual successor. The Broncos later traded Plummer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2007 offseason.
Plummer didn’t want to join a crowded Bucs quarterback room and opted to retire instead of competing for a job with a new team.
Rodgers’ situation is different, but there are some parallels. Green Bay used a first-round pick to select Rodgers’ eventual successor, Jordan Love, in 2020. The Packers have no intention of trading Rodgers, but he’s clearly disgruntled. If the team doesn’t give in (and trade him or meet whatever his demands are), Rodgers can threaten to retire, just like Plummer did.
If Rodgers doesn’t want to take such an extreme measure, he could sit out the 2021 season to prove a point. Rodgers could either opt out (the deadline is today) or hold out if he wants to attempt to force a trade.
Plummer doesn’t want to see Rodgers sidelined this fall, and he empathizes with the star quarterback’s frustration.
“I was told early on in my career, when you go through the rankings of an organization, especially an NFL organization, the owner is the most important and then people think the head coach, but usually it’s the quarterback that’s either two or three right with the GM,” Plummer said. “So a QB holds a lot of power and I think the players don’t have a lot of power in this league. And he’s kind of asserting himself saying, ‘Hey, why should I be forced to play on a team that I don’t want to play for?’
“Now, it comes off as an arrogant, spoiled, narcissistic athlete, but, I mean, we only get so long to do this, [to] play this game. So [with] the beating we put ourselves through, I think it’s only appropriate that a guy who’s one of the greatest to ever play the game, I mean – make it work. Make it work for yourself, make it the right fit. However that is, make it happen because I sorely would miss him slinging the ball around. He’s fun to watch play.”
Plummer hopes the situation can be resolved in Rodgers’ favor.
“I just hope he gets a chance to play where he wants to play and it’s set up for his success,” the former quarterback said.
Plummer will portray a fictional QB leading the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on an improbable CFL championship run in his upcoming film. Plummer, now 46, went 0-2 against the Packers during his 10-year career in the NFL.
