Getty Image / Stacy Revere
This season has been a bit different for Aaron Rodgers. After years of always knowing exactly which receivers he could trust in the Green Bay Packers offense, he lost his favorite target and was left with a thrown together group of injury prone veterans and unproven rookies.
So far, the season likely hasn’t been what he had hoped it would be when he decided not to retire after the 2021 season. His numbers are down so far and the Packers are 2 games back in their division with a 3-3 record after back to back losses to the Giants and Jets.
According to a report from the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora, executives around the league are noticing a difference.
NFL executives give brutal assessment of Aaron Rodgers
Execs and coaches around the league are talking about Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Here's what they see. My latest for @washingtonposthttps://t.co/korYtW5Gxj
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 22, 2022
One anonymous official revealed that he believes the Packers are making the same mistake his franchise and holding on to a great quarterback longer than they should have.
It’s always tricky with quarterbacks like this. You almost always end up holding on to them a year or two too long. We did …. You’re dealing with a lot of ego and emotion. It gets complicated when they’re not what they used to be.
One evaluator says it almost looks like Rodgers doesn’t even want to be there when he’s out on the field.
They can’t get anything going on offense and it almost looks like he doesn’t want to be there,” one evaluator, who isn’t allowed to speak freely about other NFL personnel, told me. “It’s like he’s almost too willing to give up on a play.
One anonymous general manager even believes that the Packers should have traded Rodgers already.
He’s got a voice in personnel now, or at least he thinks he does. The knives are about to come out there. That could get really ugly. They should have traded him when they had the chance, and they’re stuck with him now, whether he really wants to be there or not. [And this is] after everything they’ve gone through since they took Jordan Love, and that was when they were winning 13 games a year and he was playing like an MVP. They are in serious s— now.
Even with all of the drama that has surrounded Rodgers and the Packers in previous seasons, this has been one of the most difficult for them in recent years and it looks like other teams’ executives are noticing the effect it’s having on them.