Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were all over the NFL news for most of the season. First, it was his alleged desire to leave the team, even threatening to retire.
People stood by Rodgers and supported him as the Packers have failed to give him enough weapons to succeed. But then, his vaccination fiasco turned the public's perception of him around and he became a bit of a villain around the league.
Rodgers' outspoken nature and hot takes on vaccination, alternative treatment, and immunization drew plenty of criticism around social media, up to the point that he claims that most people tuned in just to root against him:
“There were a ton of people tuning in, rooting against us, for one reason and one reason only,” Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. “It’s because of my vaccination status, and them wanting to see us lose so they could pile on and enjoy and revel in the fact that my vaccination status was some sort of reason why we haven’t had success in the playoffs.”
Rodgers is reportedly looking forward to getting a fresh start somewhere else and could even consider walking away from the game.
And now that his season is over and there's a lot of speculation about his future, Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated predicts he'll follow Nathaniel Hackett to the Denver Broncos alongside Davante Adams.
"They will trade Rodgers to wherever Nathaniel Hackett's coaching, probably Denver," Huber said on The Head Of The Pack Podcast. "Adams will go with him because the Broncos have [loads] of cap space."
However, leaving the team where he's spent his entire career could be a mistake, per Giants legend Eli Manning.
Manning encouraged Rodgers to think things twice and warmed him about the uncertainty of joining a new franchise:
"It was important for me to finish my career with the Giants, and I would think it would be important for him as well, just because of the legacy that he has, the history of Green Bay, being there as long as he has been, winning a championship and winning MVPs," Manning said. "It's not always greener on the other side. That's what I had learned from talking to other people."
At the end of the day, it seems like no one, not even Rodgers, knows what's next for him. But hopefully, this won't be the last we see of him in the NFL.
