Nothing Has Changed With Aaron Rodgers — And The Packers Should Be Thrilled He’s Not Their Problem Anymore
by Rob Reischel · ForbesIt’s been almost six years since the Arizona Cardinals — who face the Green Bay Packers Sunday — last traveled to Lambeau Field.
A lot has changed in Green Bay since that memorable day.
When it comes to former Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers, though, absolutely nothing has changed.
Just hours after Green Bay suffered a 20-17 loss to a dreadful Arizona team on Dec. 2, 2018, the Packers fired 13th-year coach Mike McCarthy, a man who led them to a win in Super Bowl XLV. McCarthy became just the second coach in team history to be fired during the season, joining the highly unsuccessful Gene Ronzani who went 14-31-1 before losing his job late in the 1953 season.
Ironically, McCarthy was fired on the same day Rodgers celebrated his 35th birthday — giving the prickly quarterback a gift he’d been wanting for quite some time.
McCarthy and Rodgers — a pair of alpha males — worked well in their early years together. Eventually, though, a palpable tension developed as Rodgers took several veiled shots at his head coach. And with each passing season, Rodgers changed a higher percentage of McCarthy’s play calls at the line of scrimmage.
“McCarthy might call the same play three times in a game, without the play actually being run as he called it,” one source told Sports Illustrated that 2018 season. “And if McCarthy calls a play that Rodgers doesn’t like early in the game, that can sour the mood for the rest of the game. (It's) devolved into a competition over who can call the better play, and both want the credit when things go right.”
McCarthy had to constantly bite his tongue, knowing MVP quarterbacks are harder to find than quality head coaches. Eventually, though, Rodgers won this tug-of-war and McCarthy was canned.
Today, the New York Jets are experiencing exactly what Green Bay did six seasons ago.
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The Packers eventually traded Rodgers to the Jets in April, 2023, ending one of the most polarizing careers in franchise history. And when Rodgers took his golden right arm to New York, he made sure to bring along the drama, commotion and fuss he’s notorious for.
On Monday, after Rodgers and former head coach Robert Saleh had spent several months bickering over topics such as unexcused absences and cadence, the irritable quarterback won out again. Saleh was whacked.
Rodgers, of course, claimed he was an innocent bystander — much like he did when the hit went down on McCarthy.
Back in 2018, Rodgers claimed he was “shocked” after McCarthy was fired.
Many weren’t buying what Rodgers was selling, though, and immediately labeled him a “coach killer.”
“I hope that's not the reason,” Rodgers said of McCarthy being fired. “I think him and I, like any relationship, we have our amazing times, we have our times where we butt heads. But the basis like I said was built on mutual respect and communication.”
After Saleh was fired this week, Rodgers jumped on a national television show with one of his buddies and a former teammate and denied having ordered the code red.
"As far as any of the ridiculous allegations, I'm not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it," Rodgers said during an episode of the “Pat McAfee Show.” "I resent any of those allegations because they’re patently false. It’s interesting the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don't."
Rodgers claiming to lack “power” is almost as comical as Johnny Carson’s monologue’s once were.
When Jets owner Woody Johnson pinned the hopes and dreams of his laughable franchise on an over-the-hill quarterback 18 months ago, he allowed Rodgers to call many of the shots.
The most damaging was the hiring of inept offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — a longtime pal of Rodgers. Hackett had just been fired after only 15 games as Denver’s head coach before Rodgers tossed him a life jacket.
Washed-up wideout Randall Cobb — one of Rodgers’ best friends — was quickly brought to town, then gave the Jets all of five catches in 2023. Mediocre Allen Lazard, another ex-Packer, was given $44 million in free agency and wound up inactive by the end of the 2023 campaign.
Other former Packers such as Billy Turner, Adrian Amos, Malik Taylor, Tim Boyle and Adam Pankey were all brought to New York, as well.
No power? Please.
“When it comes to me, I don't feel like I need to defend myself or say anything,” Rodgers said. “There's always going to be narratives out there and conversations around what I think and how much power I have and how much influence I have. It's not something I worry about — it's really not.”
The good news for Green Bay is that Rodgers is now the Jets’ problem.
While it took Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst a year too long before trading Rodgers, his eventual departure was addition by subtraction.
Rodgers, who turns 41 in two months, is breaking down physically. He’s virtually statue-esque these days, and the off-script, out-of-pocket plays he once excelled at are a distant memory.
Rodgers’ passer rating of 81.6 ranks just 26th in football and is 22.0 points below his career average. The Jets also rank just 27th in total offense and 25th in scoring offense.
Meanwhile, Green Bay had a largely drama-free 2023 season, found their next franchise quarterback in Jordan Love and made a surprising run to the divisional playoffs. And while there’s been chaos of late with disgruntled wide receiver Romeo Doubs, it pales to what’s going on with the Jets.
With Rodgers, there’s always noise, always commotion, always a grudge.
And in quiet Green Bay — the smallest city in professional sports — everyone is thrilled the daily disturbances have moved 1,000 miles east.