The Green Bay Packers traded up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to take quarterback Jordan Love, a surefire signal they're preparing, if not ready, for life without Aaron Rodgers. The team has since talked up Rodgers' leadership and claimed they still expect No. 12 to be in town for the long haul, with coach Matt LaFleur reiterating this week that he sees Rodgers in Green Bay for "a really long time." Rodgers himself, however, seems resigned to the reality: That 2020 may or may not be his last with the Pack.
Asked Monday how he would define "a really long time," per ESPN, Rodgers took more of a short-term view: "I savor every moment, every season ... I don't know what the future holds. I know I can control this year and my play and my approach and my attitude."
Typically, that kind of response doesn't warrant much dissection. But Rodgers is fresh off an even blunter assessment of his future with the Packers. Days earlier, he told The Ringer he foresaw an eventual split with Green Bay because of the club's clear investment in Love: "Just look at the facts. They traded up, they drafted him, obviously they like him, they wanna play him."
His latest remarks simply reinforce what's plainly obvious, despite the Packers' recent insistence that Rodgers is secure as the starter for "a really long time." Green Bay may be tied to Rodgers in 2020 -- and rightly so, considering LaFleur saw the longtime Packers star help lead the team to within one win of the Super Bowl. And the Packers wouldn't necessarily save a ton of money by trading their current QB until June of 2021. But you don't move up for a first-round QB if you don't intend to get him on the field within a few years.
Rodgers, to his credit, seems to understand that -- and not only that, but seems to have accepted it.
