Aaron Rodgers is going through his annual career decision-making process. You know, the one in which he has the Packers and every other team in the NFL that has a need at QB wondering whether he will retire or force a trade.
The difference this time is he decided to go on something called a “darkness retreat” or “isolation retreat.” Which, simply put, is going into a room for four days in total darkness and contemplating things.
Well, Rodgers has emerged from the darkness, supposedly enlightened from his days of sensory deprivation. The NFL world was eager to find out what epiphanies he has had. And, as usual, his only answers were that he will eventually have answers.
“For everybody involved directly and indirectly, it’s best for a decision earlier,” Rodgers said on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast.
“There’s a finality to the decision. I don’t make it lightly. I don’t want to drag anybody around. Look, I’m answering questions about it because I got asked about it. I’m talking about it because it’s important to me. If you don’t like it and you think it’s drama, you think I’m being a diva or whatever, then just tune it out. That’s fine. But this is my life. It’s important to me, and I’ll make a decision soon enough and we’ll go down that road and be really excited about it.”
As it happens, the team that was most connected to the possibility of acquiring Rodgers appears to have tuned out and removed themselves as a possible option in Rodgers’ decision-making, according to a report in The Athletic.
Ziegler and McDaniels have apparently agreed that they won’t be in on the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes, if he does decide he does not want to return to Green Bay. The Raiders just have too many holes on their roster to trade high picks for a 39-year-old QB. https://t.co/jnPYKESQiV
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) March 1, 2023
Both Raiders GM Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels spoke at the NFL combine this week. McDaniels took to the podium at a press conference where he said at the very least that the Raiders would ultimately like to draft a young QB as the long-term answer.
“I think there’s always urgency at that position,” McDaniels said. “Look, the goal for us eventually is to have somebody that’s going to be here for a long time. You see the teams that are having success right now in our league, I would say in our conference, and specifically in our division, they’re young players that were drafted by their clubs and they’re being developed there under the same continuity.”
So, it would seem, barring some major shift in perhaps what the Packers would want in a trade and/or what Rodgers would accept as a salary, the Raiders appear to no longer be an option for Rodgers.
