Aaron Rodgers addressed the media for the first time since the Green Bay Packers traded up to select Jordan Love in last month’s NFL Draft and said that retiring with the franchise may not be a reality.
“Because as much as I feel confident in my abilities and what I can accomplish and what we can accomplish, there are some new factors that are out of my control,” Rodgers said per Jason Wilde. “And so my sincere desire to start and finish with the same organization, just as it has with many other players over the years, may not be a reality at this point.”
Rodgers also said he was “not thrilled with the pick” but understood what the Packers rationale behind it was.
“I think it was more the surprise of the pick,” Rodgers said. “Based on my own feelings of wanting to play into my 40s, and really the realization that it does change the controllables a little bit.”
At age 36, Rodgers is older than when the Packers drafted him to become Brett Favre’s successor in Green Bay back in 2004. Favre made news basically echoing Rodgers’ comments on The Rich Eisen Podcast last month and it opens a wide range of possibilities on where Rodgers will actually end his career.
While a mercenary-type relationship with the Vikings may be far fetched thanks to Kirk Cousins’ extension through 2022, it is possible Rodgers could wind up within the NFC North where Chicago recently declined Mitchell Trubisky’s fifth-year option and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford put his $6.5 million home for sale.
“I think what it does is just reinforce kind of the adage that you can only control what you can control,” Rodgers said. “That obviously is something that’s very important to me, but I think is definitely telling at this point that is truly something that’s out of my control.”
