Aaron Rodgers was in a happy place Saturday.
With his fiance Shailene Woodley along with current and former Packer teammates David Bakhtiari, A.J. Hawk, Randall Cobb and their significant others were gathered in Louisville to attend the Kentucky Derby. Smiling photos of the well dressed group hit social media but back in Green Bay, the pall cast by Rodgers pronouncement to never play another down for the Packers was unmistakably alarming.
NBC’s Mike Tirico actually tried to interview Rodgers about the bombshell story that broke on the opening day of the weekend NFL draft.
The NFL’s reigning MVP has yet to publicly address the reports that he has even told teammates he is done with the Packers over the drafting of Jordan Love last year the inability to re-negotiate his contract that would give him more security beyond this upcoming season. That led Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy to address the controversy in his regular column on the team’s website.
Murphy wrote. “This is an issue we have been working on for several months. Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur and I have flown out on a number of ocassions to meet with Aaron. We are very much aware of Aaron’s concerns and have been working with him (and his agent David Dunn) to resolve them. We remain committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond.”
It got worse.
Charles Robinson reported mid-afternoon that Rodgers wants General Manager Brian Gutekunst fired before he even considers a return to the team.
Following the conclusion of the draft Saturday night, Gutekunst was asked if Rodgers ever directly addressed that with him.
Caught in the middle of all this is LaFleur. He and Rodgers developed a strong relationship over the first two years of his tenure and Saturday night, the coach had to field questions about the impasse.
LaFleur was asked if Rodgers has ever expressed why he’s so unhappy or what he wants from the organization?
Hunker down Packer fans, it’s going to be a long, long off-season.
