Lost in latest Aaron Rodgers revelations is strongest endorsement of Jordan Love yet
In between throwing barbs at certain members of the Packers organization, Aaron Rodgers gave unsolicited praise for his successor, Jordan Love.
In most years with most NFL teams, late spring doesn't offer much in the way of major developments. The end of May brings organized-team activities which, boiled down to their essence, don't actually feature "real" football. Meanwhile, front offices have largely concluded their biggest pieces of business at this stage even if moves like releasing DeAndre Hopkins do occasionally transpire around June 1. To the degree the league stays out of the news cycle, this part of the calendar typically offers a rare respite.
However, for myriad reasons, the Green Bay Packers have bucked those trends in recent years. Starting in 2021, the team found itself in a standoff with the on-field face of the franchise, Aaron Rodgers. The dispute covered that entire offseason before the two sides reached a detente of sorts just as training camp began. A second consecutive MVP campaign resulted in Rodgers and the Packers recommitting to one another in the form of a record-setting contract the following March, though the union would last just one more season before the team traded the future Hall of Fame signal-caller to the New York Jets.
Rodgers' exodus occurred over a month ago, but he waited until this week to provide his account of how and why his Green Bay tenure came to a close. In a lengthy and explosive story from The Athletic, the 39-year-old quarterback detailed the communication breakdown between himself and general manager Brian Gutekunst. The piece also reports that during the uncertainty of the 2021 offseason, Rodgers directed his agent to request the Packers trade him or fire Gutekunst, though the team did neither at the time.
Understandably, Rodgers' on-the-record comments and alleged demands garnered a massive amount of attention over the past 48 hours. Still, lost in the revelations, the Packers' former quarterback provided something subtler but no less substantial: his strongest endorsement yet of Jordan Love.
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