Latest On Aaron Rodgers’ Timetable
Aaron Rodgers has said little throughout what has easily been the most turbulent offseason of his NFL career, but the reigning MVP provided an indication of his timetable Saturday.
During the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, the Packers quarterback said he plans to “get back to working out and figure things out in a couple weeks” (h/t USA Today’s Ben Kenney). This cryptic comment is certainly not out of the ordinary from Rodgers, who has played it close to the vest throughout this process — which turned into a holdout when he skipped Green Bay’s mandatory minicamp last month. The Packers, however, are set to open training camp in just more than two weeks (July 27).
Rodgers’ comment follows a report that indicated this stalemate was not on track to be resolved until at least training camp. While Rodgers’ loose timeline lines up with Packers camp, his holdout is not believed to be about money. He will face fines of $50,000 for each camp day missed. The 37-year-old superstar has long been entrenched in his desire to leave the Packers, which has stemmed from an issue with team management.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst has been resolute against trading Rodgers, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler noted recently the trade market for the 16-year veteran is nonexistent (Twitter link). This does not mean no interest has spawned, as the Broncos have been linked to the future Hall of Famer since his desire to leave Green Bay emerged in late April, but that the Packers have not given any indication a trade is realistic.
In addition to skipping the Packers’ offseason program, Rodgers has not linked up with Green Bay pass catchers on his own. That gave presumptive successor Jordan Love plenty of extra reps during OTAs and minicamp. The 2020 first-round pick, whose arrival began this turmoil between Rodgers and the Packers, took roughly 90% of the team’s offseason team reps.
It will be interesting if Rodgers reports to Packers camp, given the acrimony between he and Gutekunst and team president Mark Murphy. Gutekunst, Murphy and Matt LaFleur attempted to resolve this situation for months, prior to Rodgers’ exit hopes becoming public, but no solution came. The Packers have the leverage of holding Rodgers’ rights, while the three-time MVP can withhold his services and essentially drop the team off the Super Bowl contender radar. Either way, this saga will gain clarity later this month.
Release Candidate: Packers WR Devin Funchess
Could Devin Funchess‘ stint with the Packers end without him appearing in a game? There’s certainly a chance. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky recently wrote, the veteran receiver is on the roster bubble heading into training camp.
There’s a variety of reasons why the Packers could look to move on from Funchess. For starters, the wideout has only appeared in a single game since the 2019 season; a broken collarbone limited him to only one content in 2019 (with the Colts), and he opted out of his first season with the Packers in 2020 due to COVID concerns. Funchess is still only 27-years-old, but it’s never easy for any player to return following a two-year absence.
Further, the Packers depth chart is packed. Behind Davante Adams, the Packers are eyeing a grouping that includes holdovers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Malik Taylor. There’s also third-round rookie Amari Rodgers, and if you add Funchess to that bunch, that’s seven guys competing for at most six spots…and that doesn’t include the journeymen and undrafted free agents who are rounding out the offseason roster.
The financials aren’t necessarily in the receiver’s favor, either. The team would get around $1.2MM in savings by cutting the 27-year-old…while that doesn’t sound like a significant chunk of money, it still provides more financial breathing room than some of the other receiver options. While Funchess could theoretically give the team some money back, he’s already participated in one restructuring this offseason.
To top it all off, Funchess skipped OTAs earlier this offseason, and he only showed up to two of the three minicamp sessions. As a result, coach Matt LaFleur recently indicated that the six-foot-four receiver has some catching up to do.
“Well, he sure looks the part, there’s no doubt about that,” LaFleur said (via Wes Hodkiewicz of the team website). “You’re talking about a big, strong, long, physical guy that can run, sink his hips. So, I know he’s got a lot to learn, but we’re excited about having him on this team and letting him go compete and we’ll see what he can do.”
Funchess is only four years removed from a campaign where he finished with 840 yards from scrimmage and eight scores, and he hasn’t necessarily had the best luck over the past few years. As a result, there’s a good chance that the receiver will end up cracking a Week 1 roster. However, there’s also a chance that might not be in Green Bay.
This Date In Transactions History: Raiders Trade Eric Dickerson To Falcons
While Eric Dickerson is best remembered in Rams and Colts uniforms, the Hall of Fame running back finished his career with two other franchises. Those teams made a deal on this date 28 years ago.
The then-Los Angeles Raiders, who had acquired Dickerson in 1992, traded the veteran back to the Falcons on July 7, 1993. The Falcons sent the Raiders a conditional sixth-round pick for Dickerson. The 10-year vet had visited Atlanta earlier that summer, and the teams soon agreed to a trade that would send him to his fourth and final NFL team. This move came after some key running back developments for both teams.
Dickerson was traded three times in his career, not counting the Rams trading up one spot to acquire him at No. 2 overall in the 1983 draft. The SMU product spent four-plus seasons with the Rams, who traded him to the Colts for a monster haul midway through the 1987 season due to a contract dispute. Dickerson delivered the fifth, sixth and seventh 1,000-yard rushing seasons while in Indianapolis, where he won the fourth and final rushing titles of his career (in 1988), but the Colts sent him to the Raiders for fourth- and eighth-round picks in April 1992.
After missing 11 games between the 1990 and ’91 seasons, Dickerson played all 16 in his lone Raiders season. He ended up leading the 1992 Raiders in rushing, with 729 yards, and reduced Marcus Allen to a minimal role (67 carries in 16 games). Embroiled in a feud with Al Davis, Allen signed with the Chiefs in June 1993. After rostering two first-ballot Hall of Fame running backs in 1992, two summer 1993 transactions led to the Raiders pivoting to younger players at the position.
The Falcons ranked 27th in rushing in 1992, despite having drafted Tony Smith in the first round, and totaled just three rushing touchdowns as a team. Smith was the player the Falcons selected with the pick they obtained from the Packers in that year’s Brett Favre deal. Smith did not receive an NFL carry after that rookie season. Dickerson, however, did not provide much of a stopgap. He played in just four Falcons games (two starts) and amassed 91 rushing yards. Erric Pegram, a 1991 sixth-round pick, ended up surpassing 1,000 rushing yards for Atlanta that year.
Dickerson’s final NFL snaps came with Atlanta, but he nearly joined Favre in Green Bay. Atlanta attempted to trade the aging back to Green Bay in October 1993, but a post-trade physical revealed a bulging disk in Dickerson’s neck and led the Packers to nix the deal. Dickerson retired shortly after the trade fell through.
He ended his career as the NFL’s No. 2 all-time leading rusher, with 13,259 yards. While Dickerson has fallen to ninth on that list, his 2,105 rushing yards (in 1984) remain the league’s single-season standard. It will be interesting to see if the NFL’s move to a 17-game season will lead to that record falling in the near future.
Latest On Aaron Rodgers, Packers
Another day, another update in the Aaron Rodgers/Packers saga. This afternoon, the future Hall of Famer participated in ‘The Match’ golf tournament alongside Tom Brady, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau. Rodgers was naturally asked about his standoff with the Packers, and the quarterback decided to play coy.
“I don’t know,” Rodgers said when asked about his future in Green Bay (via Bleacher Report on Twitter). “We’ll see. We’ll see, won’t we?”
The 37-year-old also failed to acknowledge the Packers’ Week 1 matchup against the Saints, instead saying that he was prying information from Brady about the defending champ’s future in the NFL.
Besides the non-quotes from the tournament, we also learned that Rodgers had yet to gather with his wideouts (per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). While the veteran avoided offseason workouts and minicamp, he still could have participated in unofficial sessions with the likes of Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Devin Funchess, and others. This news isn’t a huge surprise since Rodgers has continually committed to his stance that he wants to play elsewhere, but you’d imagine Rodgers would want to get some work in before the regular season starts.
Finally, while it always seemed farfetched, we learned today that Rodgers won’t be opting out of the 2021 campaign. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that no players are believed to have opted out of next season. This path never made a whole lot of sense for the quarterback; he would have sacrificed a hefty payday in 2021 and would have just been delaying the stare down for at least another year.
Raiders QB Derek Carr Would “Welcome” Reunion With Davante Adams
Derek Carr has had a rotating cast of receivers since he joined the Raiders as a second-round pick in 2014. So, when he was recently asked about the opportunity to team up with impending free agent wideout (and former college teammate) Davante Adams in 2022, Carr was naturally on board.
[RELATED: QB Derek Carr Discusses Future With Raiders]
“I’ve learned in this business, you never shut the door on anything,” Carr said to Bri Mellon of ABC30 (via NFL.com’s Nick Shook). “I know that he’s obviously the best receiver — everyone said one of the best, he’s the best receiver in the NFL. The guy is unbelievable. He’s been one of my best friends since we were in college together. I love the guy.
“I would always welcome to play with him again. I think it would unlock some things in both of us that people haven’t seen yet. I’m always open to that and I will be recruiting very hard. When that time comes, it will be a full-court press.”
Carr was a two-time Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year during his collegiate career, and a big reason for those accolades was the presence of Adams. Carr threw for 9,187 yards between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, with Adams collecting 3,031 yards through the air (plus 38 touchdowns).
While the Raiders have done some work to improve Carr’s receiving corps (including acquiring Antonio Brown and drafting Henry Ruggs in the first round of the 2020 draft), the Raiders have still had a tight end lead the squad in receiving in each of the past three years (Jared Cook and Darren Waller (twice)). Even assuming that Ruggs is able to develop into a top-end starter, the team would surely still be in the market for some receiving help.
Considering the Packers uncertain future at quarterback, it’s only natural that front offices are dreaming of adding Adams to their offense. Of course, Green Bay could end that sentiment by extending the wideout, or they could alternatively franchise the receiver following the 2021 campaign. Still, if Aaron Rodgers is gone, Adams could push for a trade, in which case Carr and the Raiders would presumably be at the front of the line.
Aaron Rodgers Unlikely To Opt Out Of 2021 Season
When the NFL and NFLPA agreed that players can opt out of the 2021 season, regardless of whether they have been deemed as a high risk for COVID-19 complications, it created a way for Aaron Rodgers to avoid having to play for the Packers again while still keeping his $11.5MM in signing bonus allocation for 2021 and the $6.8MM roster bonus that was earned in March (but that hasn’t been paid out yet). But Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, said Rodgers is unlikely to go that route.
That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. If Rodgers were to opt out, he would have to make that decision by July 2 — just five days from now — and he would not be able to reverse course. He would be committed to sitting out the 2021 season, and the source says the three-time MVP is not ready to make that decision so soon.
That doesn’t mean that Rodgers will actually play this year. The possibility of a pseudo-retirement has been on the table since this saga began, and it remains an option. Rodgers might not be ready to take himself off the field by July 2, but if he does not get what he wants — either a trade or a new contract that commits the Packers to him until he is actually ready to call it a career — by the time training camp rolls around, he could simply announce his retirement.
He might say that 16 years in the NFL have taken a toll on his mind and body, and that he is ready to hang up the cleats. Such a move could eliminate any fines or forfeitures that the Packers would otherwise be entitled to, and Rodgers could simply unretire in 2022 and say that the year off left him feeling fresh and ready to resume his playing career.
So the COVID opt-out is apparently not a real option for Rodgers. Meaning that we will have to wait until the end of July, at the earliest, before we start to get some clarity.
Latest On Packers’ Aaron Rodgers
As it stands, Aaron Rodgers has two choices — collect his full paycheck for 2021, or continue his holdout into the season and forfeit millions of dollars. However, there is an option C for the Packers’ quarterback. Per the terms of this year’s agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA, Rodgers could opt out, skip the season, and prevent the Packers from taking $18.3MM out of his pocket (via PFT). 
[POLL: Will The Packers Trade Aaron Rodgers To The Broncos?]
Players can opt out for any reason, regardless of whether they’ve been deemed as a high risk for COVID-19 complications. The only hitch is that the decision has to be made by Friday, July 2. After that point, it’s irrevocable.
It’s be a bold and unprecedented move on Rodgers’ part. It would also prevent him from attempting an encore of his 2020 MVP season. The Packers continue to say that they will not trade Rodgers under any circumstances, but plenty of people seem to think that they’ll bend. In a recent poll, 25% of PFR readers said that Rodgers will wind up as the Broncos’ Week 1 starter.
“We obviously still feel the same way,” head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this year. “We want him back in the worst way. I know he knows that. And we’ll continue to work at it each and every day.”
Latest On Packers’ Quarterback Situation
With the months-old Packers-Aaron Rodgers stalemate looking set to drag into training camp, the team is in a holding pattern at quarterback. The longer this goes, the more relevant Jordan Love‘s readiness becomes.
Coming into the offseason, the Packers’ confidence appeared low in the 2020 first-round pick being prepared to make starts this season. That view seems to have changed, to some degree. Love made progress after handling a busy workload this offseason, Albert Breer of SI.com notes, with the second-year passer making particular strides with his footwork.
The Utah State alum took approximately 90% of the reps in the Packers’ offseason team drills, per Breer. GM Brian Gutekunst indicated the Packers planned to flood their highly drafted backup with work this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic nixed the 2020 offseason program and Love spent the season as Green Bay’s third-string quarterback.
The Packers’ signings of Blake Bortles, Kurt Benkert and Jacob Dolegala do not appear to have affected Love’s reps this offseason. The younger additions stand to serve as training camp arms — in the likely event Rodgers does not show next month — while Bortles would make sense as insurance if Love will not be ready to go in Week 1. For his part, Love expectedly expressed confidence he would be ready to make a Week 1 start.
It goes without saying the Packers want Rodgers to be their starter this season. That happening after Love went through a QB1 offseason would be a bonus for the Packers, for short- and long-term purposes, but nothing has emerged indicating Rodgers will suit up for the team again. If this scenario were to take place, with Rodgers starting every game for the 2021 Green Bay edition, Love would become the first Round 1 quarterback since Rodgers to spend his first two full NFL seasons on the bench. Beyond Rodgers, Brady Quinn‘s three starts from 2007-08 serve as the current basement for a first-round QB through two years in that span.
Packers, Davante Adams “Beginning” Talks
Davante Adams has had preliminary discussions with the Packers about his contract (via Paulina Dedja of FOX News). For now, Adams is set to enter the final year of his deal — a now under-market four-year, $58MM pact. 
As expected, Adams reported to the team’s mandatory minicamp earlier this month. However, the All-Pro wideout did not participate in any of the on-field work. In essence, Adams avoided the possibility of ~$300K in fines while still sending a message to Packers brass. Now, his camp will continue to push for a new deal, though Adams says he has the Aaron Rodgers situation on his mind, in addition to money.
“That’ll play into it, but there’s been talks, just really just talks, but we haven’t really done anything or talked about anything that’s worth mentioning,” Adams said. “It’s kind of just been the beginning stage of talking, and we’ll figure out what happens. Hopefully, something gets figured out, but I’m just there to play ball either way. That stuff will take care of itself eventually.”
Adams, 28, has become one of the NFL’s premier wideouts since signing his extension in December 2017. The Packers did well to lock Adams down before he had compiled a 1,000-yard season — he now has multiple 1,000-yard campaigns, plus a 997-yard 2019, when he played just 12 games. Last year, Adams led the NFL with 98.1 receiving yards per contest and 18 total receiving TDs. Excluding Allen Robinson‘s franchise tag, Adams ranks as the NFL’s 16th-highest-paid receiver.
If Adams and the club can’t reach agreement between now and March of 2022, the Packers could still cuff him via the franchise tag. That wouldn’t be the preferred outcome for either party — the Packers haven’t used it since 2010, when they tagged defensive lineman Ryan Pickett.
Poll: Who Is Bucs’ Top NFC Challenger?
While the Chiefs reside as the clear favorites in the AFC, multiple successful rebuilds have strengthened the conference and created considerable depth going into the 2021 season. In the NFC, depth is harder to find.
The Buccaneers operated aggressively this offseason, bringing back every starter and most of their top off-the-bench contributors to chase another championship, and late-June betting odds reflect this. Tampa Bay resides as the clear NFC favorite, per Las Vegas. The team did not enter 2020 on this pedestal, but the NFC landscape looks less imposing a year later.
The Saints exited the 2020 season in a new tier of salary cap hell, and although GM Mickey Loomis navigated it, their 2021 team may take a step back. Oddsmakers certainly believe this will be the case in the franchise’s first post-Drew Brees season. New Orleans has been the NFC’s most consistent team over the past four years, going 49-15 in that span, but its future Hall of Fame quarterback retired. Tampa Bay’s path back to the Super Bowl also may not involve another Canton-bound passer — Aaron Rodgers — which further muddles the equation.
January’s Matthew Stafford trade seems a good place to start. The Rams dealing two first-round picks and change for the longtime Lions passer provides Sean McVay with a quarterback upgrade, and the team perpetually unconcerned with first-round selections is operating like an all-in contender. Los Angeles, which Bovada gives the NFC’s second-best odds to advance to Super Bowl LVI, also re-signed top edge rusher Leonard Floyd. While the Rams’ penchant for big swings and big extensions led more key role players out of town in free agency, with safety John Johnson and defensive lineman Michael Brockers exiting, they return four starters from Pro Football Focus’ No. 3-ranked offensive line.
But the NFC West may be the NFL’s toughest division. No rebuilds are taking place here, separating it from most of the league’s divisions, and the 49ers rank alongside the Rams — per Bovada — in Super Bowl odds. San Francisco endured vicious injury fortune last season but has Super Bowl LIV starters — Nick Bosa, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel — due back from injury. And the team kept Trent Williams — on an O-line-record contract. Kyle Shanahan‘s squad also moved the needle at quarterback, bringing in Trey Lance at a historic cost. Lance’s readiness may determine the 49ers’ outlook. Although Jimmy Garoppolo was effective (12th in QBR) when fully healthy in 2019, he missed 23 games over the past three seasons.
The Seahawks diffused Russell Wilson trade rumblings and added veteran guard Gabe Jackson. Their defense will be without Jarran Reed and probably K.J. Wright next season, however. Seattle has not advanced to an NFC championship game since Wilson’s rookie-contract years but still has the division’s most accomplished quarterback. The Cardinals brought in multiple impact starters, in future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt and Pro Bowl center Rodney Hudson, in an effort to capitalize on Kyler Murray‘s rookie-deal window. But Murray struggled down the stretch last season, and Arizona will have two new cornerback regulars.
Rodgers’ commitment to being done in Green Bay represents the NFC’s biggest domino. The reigning MVP has not budged, and this standoff is expected to drag on to training camp. The Packers trading Rodgers, or the superstar passer being out of the picture while the team retains his rights, will probably take them off the board as a Super Bowl threat. Given the Packers’ 26-6 performance over the past two seasons, Rodgers’ status looms large in this year’s Super Bowl equation.
What sleeper teams realistically factor in here? The Cowboys extended Dak Prescott and hired a new defensive coordinator (Dan Quinn), but they have won one playoff game during their now-wealthy starter’s tenure and allowed a franchise-record 473 points in 2020. Washington boasts one of the league’s best defenses but opted against trading up for a quarterback in Round 1. Ryan Fitzpatrick will turn 39 this year and has never made a playoff start. The Bears did trade up for a passer, and the Vikings retooled their defense. The Giants made multiple splashy receiver additions but have big questions up front. Do any of these teams qualify as legit Bucs obstacles?
Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your NFC assessments in the comments section.