Immediately following his team’s postseason loss, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had some (potentially unintentionally) interesting remarks about his future. While he said that he wasn’t even thinking about it at that point, he did repeatedly mention expecting the team to be much different going forward, and said that he doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild.
Since then, numerous members of the Packers organization have come out and said—literally—that there isn’t going to be a rebuild, and that they are unanimous in hoping to have Rodgers back, so they’re all trying to play nice. And Rodgers said that he would have his decision made in time for free agency—unlike last year.
That still leaves open the possibility that he works his way out of Green Bay. One such person appears to be NFL ‘insider’ John Clayton, a designation becoming less and less meaningful every time he makes headlines, seemingly, who was asked about Rodgers and his future on 93.7 The Fan yesterday.
“I think he’s out of there”, he said of Rodgers, citing the Denver Broncos as perhaps the best possibility. And he volunteered that he doesn’t believe the Pittsburgh Steelers will be an option, citing the fact that he is not vaccinated and has no plans to get vaccinated.
“That could be a no-no for the Pittsburgh Steelers”, he said, “because I think that they want a quarterback who’s gonna be vaccinated and not have to go through all the stuff that Aaron Rodgers goes through. So I think right now Denver has the best chance to get him”.
Personally, I don’t buy that, not that there’s much to buy, since he’s just taking a stab in the dark there. Yes, of course, the Steelers would prefer everybody to be vaccinated. But if you’re going to make a huge move to trade for a player like Aaron Rodgers, you’re not going to let that decision hinge on whether or not he’s vaccinated. It’s not like they had no unvaccinated players last year. I don’t think any team did—even if they thought they did. *couch*Tampa*cough*
Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the fact that there’s a virtual certainty Rodgers is not coming to Pittsburgh, even if there is a mutual admiration there. For starters, I’m still confident he’s going to wind up staying in Green Bay. After all, they had no problem with him being ‘immunized’.
It is possible that the Steelers do pursue a veteran quarterback, but it’s far more likely that will be somebody who isn’t currently under contract for the 2022 season. Among those who will be available are Teddy Bridgewater, Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, Tyrod Taylor, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Mitchell Trubisky, and…that’s about it as far as notable names go. Nobody else is really even a plausible starter, like Joe Flacco or Jacoby Brissett or Nick Mullens.
