According to ESPN, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is fed up in Green Bay. Again. The three-time N.F.L. most valuable player is apparently so unhappy that he does not want to return to the team. Rodgers has expressed dissatisfaction with his coaches and a lack of offensive support, and last year the team sparked his ire by drafting a quarterback, Jordan Love, in the first round.
Rodgers, 38, is likely to stay put. General Manager Brian Gutekunst does not want to trade him, and Rodgers can’t opt out of his current contract until 2022. Rodgers would forgo millions of dollars in bonuses if he sat out this season.
Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers is so disgruntled with the Green Bay Packers that he has told some within the organization that he does not want to return to the team, league and team sources told ESPN on Thursday.
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— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2021
More than 100 college football players opted out of the 2020 season because of coronavirus concerns, but some prospects are still expected to become first-round selections in the N.F.L. draft.
Members of the opt-out group — headlined by Louisiana State receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Oregon offensive lineman Penei Sewell and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons — spent the majority of the fall and winter training for pro days, their best opportunity to remind N.F.L. evaluators of their talent. Scouting personnel said the situation created an unusual challenge, but they felt that they could complete an accurate assessment of opt-out players through interviews and film review.
The Jaguars, Jets and 49ers will open the first round by taking a quarterback (trust us). If the Falcons — or a team that trades up — takes one at No. 4, too, that will mark the first time that the first four picks in the N.F.L. draft have been quarterbacks.
Only twice before have quarterbacks been taken with the first three picks: in 1999, with Tim Couch (Cleveland), Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia) and Akili Smith (Cincinnati), and 1971, with Jim Plunkett (New England), Archie Manning (New Orleans) and Dan Pastorini (Houston Oilers).