Aaron Rodgers has spent much of the 2022 season at less than full health owing to a broken thumb, and, more recently, a rib injury. That, coupled with the Packers’ slim playoff chances, has led to questions about how much longer he will be on the field in 2022. 
The recently-turned 39-year-old was in the lineup today against the Bears, staying in line with his and Green Bay’s plans for the immediate future. Today’s contest served as a means to evaluate Rodgers’ status from a pain management standpoint, especially with the team’s bye looming in Week 14. Even in the likely event the Packers find themselves mathematically eliminated from the playoffs soon, though, Rodgers may still operate as the starter.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport writes that no decision has been made yet with respect to when (if at all) Rodgers will be shut down for the rest of the campaign. He adds that Rodgers will have a large say in upcoming discussions on the matter, with the possibility of turning the offense over to Jordan Love looming. The 2020 first-rounder has hardly seen the field in the NFL, and his Packers future has been the subject of plenty of speculation given Rodgers’ extension signed this summer.
That deal has since been understood as essentially a year-to-year accord, though, leaving the reigning MVP’s future in the air as well. Rapoport adds that if Rodgers is physically able to continue playing, it is “a good bet” he remains as the No. 1. Rodgers himself has admitted that things could change in the near future, however.
“I’d love to finish the season out,” he said recently on the subject of a potential QB swap, “but I understand this is a business and there’s a lot of us kind of older guys who play a decent amount, and they might want to see some younger guys play. Hopefully we don’t have to have that conversation, but if that conversation comes up, I’ll approach it with an open mind without any bitterness or resentment.”
Rodgers threw for 182 yards and one touchdown during a 28-19 win over Chicago, bringing the Packers’ record to 5-8. That may delay talk of a quarterback change temporarily, but, especially depending on his ability to heal over the course of the bye week, Rodgers’ remaining time this season could be limited.
Sure felt like a last hurrah at Soldier Field when he was saluting the Bear’s fans.
He knows he’s playing his last few games as a Packer. They very well could run the table though.
If he’s saluting Bear fans rather than Packer fans he should probably be in a concussion protocol. I don’t see him agreeing to ride the bench if any contract performance incentives are still attainable.
He’s just letting them know he still owns them….even when the packers are bad they’re still better than the dumpster fire in Chicago.
He has no performance incentives. His 2022 and 2023 contract is fully guaranteed
You can have a fully guaranteed contract that also contains performance bonuses. I thought there were some in Rodgers contract but I wasn’t sure.
According to spotrac he has none.
But that’s spotrac, lemon insists there are some, so there have to be. He’s the most objective, unbiased person on all things Aaron Rodgers.
Thanks for that vote of confidence Manny. Can you get me a tryout for Jeopardy?
Maybe, but I don’t have enough pull to get 12 categories of “Things People Hate About Aaron Rodgers: Real, Rumor, or Completely Imaginary” to give you a shot at winning.
Without any bitterness or resentment…except bitterness and resentment is kinda his thing
He was saluting the bears fans after the win for owning them the last 15 years.
I’m assuming the return salutes revealed there are more moons than the one in the sky.
Next New York Jets QB
A recommendation made by the White Male Sports Media in NYC.
Shewish media is what you are describing
It’s sad how badly GB front office played this. They could/should have traded and kick started the rebuild. As many of us said. It seemed obvious.
I think that there are a lot of things that we said the front office should do. Some of those things were probably even correct.
Obvious? He was the league MVP the past two years. Sure, losing the one of the best WRs in the league (along with Davante Adams and MVS) was rough, but Rogers is a first-ballot HOFer and an all-time great.
Without having any kind of data or metrics to back this up, and going solely off watching the games attentively, the offensive line issues seemed to be the top issue on offense early in the season. The second was the WR corps. Given the youngsters, that should’ve been expected, but could’ve been somewhat negated by having a HOF-caliber QB slinging the rock…if he was receiving adequate protection. (Spoiler alert: he wasn’t.)
Sticking on the offensive side of the ball, a key factor in success for any professional sport team is health. And that was a huge problem for the WR and o-line groups, along with Rodgers himself.
Sure #12 has made some really boneheaded throws, perhaps more than usual. (Even generational talents aren’t perfect.) But to expect this kind of season from him would’ve required a Nostradamus level of foresight. Again, the man was the reigning two-time MVP.
Plus, this is all only about the offense. If the defense lived up to the preseason hype (at least, from the fan base), the Pack probably wouldn’t be sitting with like a 4% chance of making the playoffs.
TL;DR: I’m not sure it was that obvious.
(Speaking of obvious, hopefully it was obvious that I was kidding about Eq. St. Brown being “one of the best WRs.” His brother sure seems to fit that bill, though…)
Rodgers really isn’t playing that badly, the team just lacks firepower. And protection. The focus on the Packers will always go to Rodgers, but he can’t make his receivers faster, run better routes, or have better hands, or revert Tonyan back to who he was two years ago. The most that Rodgers can do is put them in good positions. The team, outside of the running backs, has been bad. Watson has had a few good games after being outright terrible to start-we’ll see if he can continue to develop along that path.
It’s always best to trade a player one year too early than one year too late. The haul for Rodgers will not be what it was spring / summer 2022
That’s a fair point.
MLF is from the Shanahan tree. He wants to run the San Francisco offense with Jordan Love in the way that Lance was drafted for. Rodgers sat for years behind Favre and it worked out pretty well.
Rodgers must think he plays in the NBA, not the NFL, i.e., people paid good money for their game tickets and expect to see you play if you aren’t injured.
Packers management will compensate disappointed fans by offering them $10 to shovel snow from the stadium.
link to youtube.com
Send to the nineros
Rumor is that he’s already hired Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman to keep him in the starting lineup even if he dies.
Anything to keep Love off the field and his ego intact.