Brett Favre tells Green Bay Packers fans not to worry about the comments Aaron Rodgers made following the NFC Championship Game.
The Green Bay Packers are getting all too familiar with the feeling. Ever since winning Super Bowl 45, the Packers have gone 0-3 in NFC Championship Games. Unfortunately for them, they added another tally in the loss column after falling 31-26 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Following the game, a dejected Aaron Rodgers mentioned that players, including himself, have uncertain futures in the Packers organization. That caused many a Green Bay fan to lose their minds, while others began piecing together possible trade destinations for the 2020 NFL MVP.
Hall-of-Fame quarterback Brett Favre is telling all of those antsy Packers fans to calm down and not to worry about the status of Rodgers.
Favre has first hand experience on what Rodgers is going through
“I wouldn’t pay much attention to it,” Favre said in an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via ProFootballTalk. “I think frustration, disappointment, hurt, pain, all were in that soundbite. Look, there’s no way the Packers would do anything to jeopardize losing Aaron, unless Aaron just chooses to retire, which I would be shocked. The guy’s playing better now than he’s ever played, and without him, you certainly wouldn’t have been even close to where you were [Sunday]. And I think the same will go for next year, and really the next few years, if he chooses to play. I wouldn’t pay much attention to what he said. I’ve been there. It’s so — I mean, it hurts. It’s painful. The last thing you want to do is think about next year, because you just had a major disappointment, and that’s what you’re hearing in that soundbite.”
It’s not as if the Packers were completely blown out by the Buccaneers. But if a few things had gone their way, Green Bay could very well be representing the NFC in Super Bowl 55 — whether that’s Equanimeous St. Brown catching the easy two-point conversion, Rodgers choosing to run on third-and-goal late in the fourth quarter, or head coach Matt LaFleur going for it on fourth-down instead of settling for a field goal.
Of course, many are going to think about Rodgers potentially demanding a trade, considering general manager Brian Gutekunst moved up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. Even so, Rodgers is coming off a regular season where he threw for 4,299 yards, 48 touchdowns and five interceptions. He was leaps and bounds better than he was in years past.
Rodgers is under contract until the end of the 2023 season, but his deal does not include a trade clause, so he can’t force his way out of Green Bay if that’s the route he wanted to choose. With Rodgers accounting for over $31 million in dead money, don’t expect Green Bay to move him. The Packers are in a position where they could select playmakers in the upcoming NFL Draft to help Rodgers. That, and Devin Funchess will be returning after he opted out of the 2020 campaign, which will only help Green Bay’s pass attack.
As Favre puts it, Rodgers is dealing with the agony of defeat, so don’t take his comments too seriously.