Closely linked to Sam Darnold after trading Geno Smith, the Seahawks are obviously not certain to land him. The Vikings are not expected to bring Darnold back, pointing to the QB having interest in a newfound suitor, but Seattle will still need to pay up to land a player we ranked No. 1 on our 2025 free agent list.
Darnold could certainly be labeled the Seahawks’ top target, as buzz about a potential Russell Wilson reunion has not built. But a more talented quarterback will be available soon. While Aaron Rodgers is 41, he is a four-time MVP who played decently last season. The Seahawks are not expected to pass through this free agency period without talking to the 20-year veteran, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports.
[RELATED: Sam Darnold Likely To Choose Seahawks?]
Rodgers has been connected to the Giants and Vikings, but a Seahawks landing would give the all-time QB talent a better chance at competing — in all likelihood — in 2025. The Seahawks are coming off a 10-7 season, seeing Smith’s 15 interceptions prove an impediment in Mike Macdonald’s first season. Klint Kubiak is now aboard as OC. He has not stopped through Green Bay or New York, but the second-generation coach does run an offense that resembles Matt LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett‘s. Kubiak was on Hackett’s 2022 Broncos staff, though that might not be a ringing endorsement.
One connection could be more notable. Seahawks GM John Schneider was in Green Bay when the team drafted Rodgers in 2005. Schneider was also Packers director of football operations when they made the move to trade Brett Favre (after unretirement No. 1) in 2008. In his second year running the show (post-Pete Carroll), Schneider has now signed off on trading Smith and D.K. Metcalf. Seattle has plenty of work to do this offseason.
This connection aside, shifting from a 34-year-old quarterback to a 41-year-old passer who is not yet two years removed from Achilles surgery would be a fascinating plan for the Seahawks. Rodgers ranked 25th in QBR last season (four spots south of Smith) but did start 17 games after his Achilles rehab and finish with a 28-11 TD-INT ratio. Teams could certainly do worse, though much has changed about the baggage Rodgers brings since Scheneider’s time with the Packers.
Rodgers has not confirmed he is even playing in 2025, but all signs are pointing to it. The Jets are about to be tagged with $49MM in dead money, and offsets would make Rodgers’ 2025 landing comparable to where Wilson was in 2024. The Steelers had Wilson on the veteran minimum, as the Broncos were paying the rest. As the Jets prepare for the second-highest single-player dead money hit, they will be on the hook for the bulk of Rodgers’ 2025 money.
This is kind of epic, but who is he going to throw to?
The Seahawks want to trade their two top receivers!
He has JSN and they could get vets in free agency like Slayton or Diggs
Be a really funny turn of events if the Seahawks use the pick they got from the Steelers for Metcalf and offered it in a deal to the Bengals for Higgins.
I think Higgins will stay tagged
I love Higgy Baby
I don’t get it.
Lmao it’s football baby!!
A-rod is the player I hate the most in football (and baseball)
God he lied about Covid, acts horribly to his teammates, always hard counting to where it gets annoying, literally single-handedly ruined the jets and forced them into rebuild mode
But he didn’t do any of those things?
You could say that he’s smarmy, or aloof to the public, or should spend more time in the off-season putting in work with new teammates, or puts far too much stock into McAfee’s annoying talk show. Any of those would be correct, or arguable. But those other things are things that people say and just aren’t well supported by the facts. I really don’t understand it.
I mean, he said that he was “immunized” (by some weird holistic medicine crap that he believes in), he never said that he was vaccinated. Florio got extremely butthurt about it (re-read his articles; it’s hard to describe it in another way), probably because he felt tricked, but Rodgers never said that. To be honest, I don’t know why any of that was anyone’s business to begin with, rules or not, but hey. The only instance of being horrible to a teammate that I can think of is the Mike Williams thing, which I really don’t know how Rodgers could have handled differently without lying about an obvious mistake. As for the last fact…I think that Johnson has been well documented to have been the source of that dysfunction. At the very least, it wasn’t Rodgers single-handedly.
Fact or fiction it’s been 20 years of this, AK. Over all those years I haven’t heard many “We love him” quotes from players. Wherever he’s been it’s been his way or the highway. No one has doubted his skill, but it seems fair to question his character.
To your point rondon – there is a ton of smoke there.
He was purposely misleading to be deceitful in his immunization answer. While technically not lying – it isn’t being honest. It was purposefully misleading.
He threw everyone under the bus in his last year in GB – and took no accountability himself. Its not like he was being a great leader when he was unavailable and finger pointing – btw that still happened with the Jets. Despite having his guys.
To be fair there are a handful if people in his posse that love him – but he really seems to struggle connecting with new teammates late in his career.
The trip to Egypt during training camp says everything doesn’t it?
And all of my criticism about this really is just only about playing ability. He is mostly a check down and screen guy now. No mobility.
Your points are just extra gravy.
He might even still be a Jet if he just agreed to stop doing the Mcafee show. But its his best outlet to get eyeballs and feed his narcissism. (The media always blows this up he says, but nobody loves to be more in the spotlight than him)
Im not understanding why a team like Seattle wants this guy.
Ive seen Pittsburgh as a maybe – but your points make that even less sense. I don’t see a Rodgers- Tomlin union as happy and productive.
Im doubting his skill AND character.
Who’s everyone? These are things that we read from writers, and never hear from the person’s mouth itself. I question it heavily.
I did hear him say the phrase “I need to do better” a ton after every Jets game this year, so I do take his words more seriously than third party sources. If a quarterback says that “we didn’t do a good enough job” after the team loses, is that throwing teammates under the bus? Honest question.
I agree about Egypt and McAfee. As much of hypocrite Jimmy Kimmel is about being made fun of, the Epstein quote definitely was unnecessary and out of the blue, too. My biggest criticism of Rodgers has been his offseason habits and lack of offseason dedication to working with other young receivers.
Those things said, the coverage of Rodgers noticeably changed after his vaccination thing. I really don’t see how that’s anyone’s business, though. I’m not going to wade into politics, at all, but that seems like a question that Rodgers or anyone else should be forced to answer.
Rodgers is definitely a mercurial weirdo, and may believe in some baseless stuff, but most of the bad things written about him are hard to validate consistently. People can believe what they want, of course, but I do question journalistic integrity when someone like Florio dedicates three articles a week to just how bad Aaron Rodgers is because he got fooled by a vaccine answer. The thing that I would say, simply, is when I read these things about someone, I try to see if I can validate it with his/her own words before I believe it. It is possible, after all, that a report could be exaggerated-even a number of reports, as most journalists base their articles off each other’s. They’re not immune to slant, either.
He threw all of the young receivers under the bus his last year in GB. Publicly.
I think its fair to question leadership style when that happens. Especially from a guy who cant be bothered to show up to OTAs.
He had a public feud with the GM , and his points made him look very childish.Remember the public list of players he wanted to keep? That list was quite humorous.
Then to NY – He did everything he could to make sure Saleh knew he was top dog. Even when it wasn’t called for. Nobody questions that he was a big part of the reason he was canned.
Rodgers loves attention. He lives for it. Its why he make a big deal about retirement- or not. Its always about him. Gotta keep his name out there!
He was considering being a VP to the anti-vax crackpot… how committed is he really?
My understanding is the older you get the harder it is to stay competitive, you gotta work harder. Rodgers seems to be taking the opposite approach.
Im extremely skeptical that he can work well with a coach that has any real pull. He will gladly exert himself over lesser experienced guys, bc you know- he knows everything. A more established guy? Thats a fight waiting to happen.
And Im skeptical he even has the skills to be anything more than marginal. Brady played forever and we all think its normal – its not. Even if you are committed.
Whats the upside to Seattle or even Pittsburgh signing him? Mediocre at best with all the circus that you will have tagged to him?
Yes – Im anti-AR. I think he is a nut, but I can be objective.
Mediocre at best? He threw more touchdowns than Mahomes on a more tumultuous team.
What do you mean about the “player list” in Green Bay? Are you referring to the free agent “wish list” that ESPN reported on in New York? Nevermind that no one’s ever seen it, but how is that any different at all than any other quarterback putting in requests for free agents or re-signings? Burrow is doing right now, publically, with Higgins. Brady brought in Gronkowski, Brown, and Mason to Tampa. Jackson got the Ravens to sign Beckham. That happens all the time, so no, I don’t see how Rodgers is any worse than those guys.
If the GM feud that you’re referring to is with Gutekunst, then no, I don’t see that argument either, because he didn’t end up looking wrong. Gutekunst’s first draft, that led to the feud, was unequivocally terrible. The Packers could have snagged an impact receiver, which was a need so obvious that most of us called it urgent. Instead, they picked an entire draft’s worth of backup and depth players. Love is the best pick from that class, and he sat for three years while Green Bay went to NFCCs. Sure, Love looks capable, but Gutekunst slammed the door shut on a great chance to play for a title because he didn’t want the admittedly smarmy Rodgers to be right. Green Bay is still looking for a number one receiver to lead a solid but unspectacular stable. No offense to the Packers’ receivers, because I actually don’t dislike them, but realistically we have to know that Higgins or even Claypool could been that extra push to beat Tampa in a one score NFCC…certainly more than, say, Josiah Deguara.
Again, what are your specifics with Saleh? The non-chest bump? That was awkward, but hardly upstaging. I don’t see Rodgers as a chest bump rah rah type, but even if he were and still rejected Saleh, I don’t see that as extreme unless you just need it to be. If you’re referring to the Egypt trip, then I agree-but I don’t think that was done to upstage Saleh. It’s probably more tied to the other argument that you mentioned, which was the lack of commitment. That, I agree with. It’s definitely a negative.
I’m not going to touch the RFK thing. Your opinions on him or vaccinations or whatever are your own. Rodgers should be able to have his.
Maybe the run was serious, maybe not, but Rodgers didn’t put that thought out there, someone else did.
As I said, I see plenty of negatives with Rodgers. I mentioned them above. In fact, I’ll add one-the savior messiah complex number that he did while rehabbing was condescending and self-aggrandizing, and using McAfee as yet another mouthpiece for that made it worse.
Here is my point-verify it. Rumors if this sort are easy to write, and hard to prove. There is plenty written about Rodgers that is negative, and it sells well. He, for his part, has grown to embrace it-too much in my opinion, but it’s his life. The amount of rumor that just gets accepted because it’s about Rodgers is what gets me. Do we have teammates who have complained about him, because we have plenty who love him (like Davante Adams and Marshawn Lynch)? Do we believe just because it’s Rodgers? Is it possible that it’s not true? If I’m supposed to judge someone’s character, which I prefer not to do without knowing them, I at least need actual quotes, not speculation.
This isn’t the year to use Maholmes as a milestone.
No – go check out the list of players that AR wanted to resign. He was mid-press conference ripping the GB GM a new one.
Guys like Jordy Nelson, who was out of the league quickly after leaving GB. (I don’t remember the entire list – Im sure you can google it or find the actual press conference.)
There are plenty of well documented incidents with him though AK – I know you know this.
I cant understand why you want to go so far and give him every benefit if the doubt, while simultaneously conceding several of his worst points though.
Its your opinion – but I think the narcissism is quite clear with him. Its not even subtle.
I bet his family agrees.
He was mediocre this year – btw with a better offensive supporting cast too.
You are free to defend him, its not a place I want to be.
We’ll agree to disagree. I do actually find Rodgers a bit self-centered, but I just think that a lot of what has been written just piled on itself without any specifics to back it up (like that gossip hearsay Sandy Hook story that some CNN reporter apparently told a sports writer that Rodgers supposedly said).
I concede the things that are proven, but I also want to find the root of the others. If I can’t, then why believe them? I’ve learned, in my line of work, that things that you believe with certainty to be factual can be turned on their head by new evidence that is much different than the theory you came up with based on speculation or clues. So, yes, I do like to see direct evidence, especially when I see things that contradict what I’m told (like people saying that Rodgers never takes responsibility, when he blames himself often for failure in public press conferences).
I respect you, and thank you for the discussion. Look forward to more-especially on the ones where we agree.
I could see Rodgers ending up with Vikings. JJ McCarthy may not be ready for prime time and AR going to playoff team being paid vet minimum with Jets owing rest makes perfect sense.
Vikings would mean following Favre’s path step by step (stints on Jets, followed by Vikings).
I admit, I’d love to see it happen. It would probably give the Vikings a good offense, despite what people think of Rodgers personally.
I mean, people may hate Rodgers, but would you rather have him or Daniel Jones for a year or two?
I would rather start McCarthy and let o Connell turn him into Joe Montana personally
But if gets the Vikings a Super Bowl win, he tops Favre.
Doubt it’s Rodgers top option, given the roster and culture of the population (woke fetards)
But he’s looking to pad the stats and it’s a nice fallback plan
At this point looking like Fields to Jets, Wilson back to Steelers, & Daniel Jones to Vikings , though Rodgers could fall into either of the later 2’s plans theoretically
Rodgers best destination would be the Vikings. He could fulfill his destiny and the team is good enough to go to a conference championship, maybe more. Not sure Rodgers can take them there at this point, but the Vikings have a need, and so does Rodgers.
I think that there’s a good chance that the Seahawks lose out on Darnold and Rodgers ends up there, but yeah, I could see your scenario happening pretty easily. The Titans are the one fallback that could offer an alternative to whomever doesn’t fit into this situation.
For being the knowledgeable one, it sounds like you lack knowledge about Aaron Rodgers. Outside of his opinions on vaccines, Rodgers is pretty liberal. He hates Christianity and what it stands for, supports LGBTQ rights, and is pro-BLM and DEI. He’s very socially liberal. It’s why he identifies with libertarians.
I just know the left cult hates anyone who turned down the malware injection
He aligned with RFK who’s not libertian in any capacity. (Pretty much the opposite on paper)
It’s a weird time, you’re absolutely correct that both Rodgers and RFK are extremely Liberal, but seems the Democrats no longer value liberal virtues in favor of wildly ambiguous progressivism and hijacked progressivism
Liberals by definition lean pretty far right in 2025
Labeling anyone conservative or liberal because of their stance on a single issue is silly.
You’re taking a small minority and assigning them the platform of the entire party. Almost every Democrat I know is closer to center and doesn’t think the party is operating the correct way. This wildly ambiguous progressivism you speak of is being rejected by many long time democrats who think the party is spending too much time on certain issues and trying to move the country along socially too fast.
I also have to say I disagree that RFK “is not libertarian in any capacity.” He isn’t a perfect fit for the party, but Libertarian ideology is shifting, just as you note with other parties. Yes, overall, the party stance is still pretty fiscally conservative but socially liberal with the desire to have government stay out of our everyday lives, but it is still evolving. Most people don’t fit their party line to a perfect T anyway; however, in these galvanizing times, more people do seem to be sticking with their party even with they disagree with the decision making.
Ya but the point is we’re talking about Seattle
I don’t disagree with your sentiment overall
And more than that, it’s simply an interesting fit culturally for Rodgers
As someone who lives in Seattle, I think you’re playing into the media narrative. Yes, there is a more wildly progressive population than other places, but most people still fit into the center. Left and right get along here for the most part (except online, but that speaks to our nation’s larger problem, really).
I don’t think it’s as radical of a cultural fit as you think, particularly for the reasons I noted in the first comment (Rodgers’ liberal beliefs).
Well I’m not going to argue that then. And you’re completely correct that most is overhyped online banter
I respect your civil replies greatly!
Haha don’t let it fool ya
Hahaha. You know, in these tumultuous times we’re living in, even just listening to someone else’s opinions is respectable. Anyway, it seems our conversation is null since Darnold is headed to Seattle.
I would take Russell Wilson over Rodgers any day.
Honestly why the hell not. Just complete the Brett Farve tour.
His old friend Aaron Jones is out there now on a 2 year deal.
Got some nice receivers in JJ and Addison
Could stand to improve the oline a bit but not the worst oline
If the Seahawks sign Rodgers they might as well relocate to Oklahoma City too.
I called this months ago