Ian Rapoport gives timeline on a hypothetical Aaron Rodgers trade
One of the massive offseason dominoes in the NFL fell earlier this week when Tom Brady announced his retirement. Now everyone is waiting for the next one to fall with what the future holds for Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.
With many people thinking the franchise would elect to go the route of a trade, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network gave The Pat McAfee Show a solid timetable of when and what that could look like. He said that, if it were to happen, it would be coming soon during this window of the Senior Bowl, the Super Bowl, and the eventual start of free agency. He also said an expected Derek Carr trade could be what sets a move for Rodgers in motion.
“Remember when the Matthew Stafford – (Jared) Goff trade happened? Like as everyone was coming back from the Senior Bowl? Which would basically be in two days. But it was like a couple of years ago,” said Rapoport. “The Derek Carr trade? If there’s going to be a trade, which I still think is possible? (It) would happen around the time of Super Bowl week. So you’re talking within the next two weeks or so.”
“Once one thing happens, things generally accelerate. So, if Aaron Rodgers is going to be traded which, again, I believe is possible? Then it would probably happen in that window of a…week or two before free agency,” Rapoport said. “Once you start talking, if everyone’s on the same page, if he wants to come back? It all will happen pretty quickly. Because if you want to get him, you want to get him now, right?”
Rodgers is coming off his 18th NFL season and his 39th birthday. While he may or may not still have something in the tank to give, plenty of people seem to think that he may not want to give it in Green Bay anymore. That would make a trade to a team willing to give up the assets necessary to acquire him more likely than retirement at this point in time.
There’s still a lot to figure out when it comes to Rodgers’ situation. However, Rapoport believes things could start moving towards that outcome soon based on what we’ve seen in the past and depending on what happens over the next two weeks.