Assuming more rumors and teams will be added if Aaron decides to play this year.
Adam Schefter reports Carolina has contacted the #Packers about Aaron Rodgers.
— Michael Rodney (@PackersNotes) March 2, 2023
I have no information on Aaron-Packers (and don't believe any info on it that I hear) but:
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) March 2, 2023
It just feels like both sides are figuring out how to gracefully and amicably separate after 18 years together.
No easy way to do this (I've been there).
@packerboi posted:I have no information on Aaron-Packers (and don't believe any info on it that I hear) but:
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) March 2, 2023
It just feels like both sides are figuring out how to gracefully and amicably separate after 18 years together.
No easy way to do this (I've been there).
I agree. No easy way to do that.
You work out a trade. Trade happens. You then have a tearful presser with Aaron. You thank him for all he's done and he says great things about the organization and fans. Then Aaron has a presser with his new team again saying how much GB meant to him. If he plays a game in GB you give him hugs before and after the game. If you need advice, call Peyton Manning.
at this point, it appears rodgers is afraid to leave.
@packerboi posted:Assuming more rumors and teams will be added if Aaron decides to play this year.
Adam Schefter reports Carolina has contacted the #Packers about Aaron Rodgers.
— Michael Rodney (@PackersNotes) March 2, 2023
Beat ya to it.
The Panthers have a real cap problem and need to do a lot of work to get well under.
**********
The Carolina Panthers come into the 2023 offseason with negative cap space. They’ll have to clear up some space just to sign draft picks, and they’ll also want to sign some depth in free agency. Fortunately, they have some avenues to free up some space.
Potential cap casualties
Pat Elflein
Cap hit: $7.1 million. Potential savings: $4.3 million.
Elflein seems like the most likely player to be let go as we approach free agency. He started the 2022 season as the team’s primary option at center, but he missed the final 11 games of the season with a hip injury. Bradley Bozeman played very well in his absence and is the favorite to be the team’s starting center should they retain him. Also working against Elflein is the fact that the $4.3 million in savings the team would receive by releasing him is the second most of anyone on the roster.
Damien Wilson
Cap hit: $4.7 million. Potential savings: $3.6 million.
Wilson played the majority of his snaps on special teams last season. The Panthers could probably fill that role with cheaper options and save a few million dollars by letting Wilson go.
Stantley Thomas-Oliver
Cap hit: $1.04 million. Potential savings: $1.01 million.
The former 7th round pick has spent the majority of the last two seasons on injured reserve and didn’t play a single snap on defense in the three games he was active for in 2022. It’s not going to move the needle much, but if the Panthers are trying to maximize space, they can probably make a small dent here.
Restructure candidates
Taylor Moton
Cap hit: $24.54 million. Potential savings: $11.15 million.
Moton has three more years left on his deal. The Panthers can convert most of his $11 million base salary for 2023 into a signing bonus and spread that over those three years to save an eight figure dollar amount against the cap.
DJ Moore
Cap hit: $25.04 million. Potential savings: $12.72 million.
Moore has the largest cap hit on the roster heading into the offseason. He, like Moton, has three years left on his deal that the Panthers could spread some cap hit across.
Extension candidates
Shaq Thompson
Cap hit: $24.46 million
Thompson has an astronomical cap hit going into the final season of his deal. The team could save $13.16 million by releasing him, but it seems more likely that the team would elect to extend him and structure the deal in such a way to bring his cap number down by several million dollars.
Brian Burns
Cap hit: $16.01 million
Burns is almost certainly going to sign a massive extension in the offseason. The Panthers can give Burns a low base salary in year one of his new deal to save a few million here.
All of those moves could save the Panthers $30 to $40 million in cap space, which is more than enough to sign draft picks and acquire some good free agent pieces on the open market in a few weeks.
Carolina may want 12 but I doubt 12 would agree to it. He's going to want to go to a team he feels are close to making a SB run...Jets are most likely of the suitors. Vegas is a dumpster fire. Carolina is far away.
Rumors out of Bakersfield where Carr's family lives is that they believe Derek will be a Jet.
Really not that difficult to clear cap space. Weren't the Packers about $15 million over about a week ago. And just like that, they're $17 million under.
The cap is like the speed limit. It's merely a suggestion and only really matters in rare instances or if you are completely irresponsible.
@D J posted:I don’t think anybody out there understands just how dire the #Jets offensive line situation really is? No way does Derek Carr, Aaron Rodgers or any other top tier NFL QB play behind these 8 offensive linemen under contract and the challenges all 8 have
Injuries played a big part in the Jets O-line problems. Two recent 1st Round picks missed the entire season and the last ten games respectively. And a solid vet brought in to play LT missed 5 games. Line shuffling can make a decent line look really bad in a hurry. Just look at the Packers. And getting a few guys healthy can turn a porous line into a solid line (or at least a lot better).
An offensive line can get a lot better in a hurry with health and a FA signing or two.
@PackLandVA posted:Injuries played a big part in the Jets O-line problems. Two recent 1st Round picks missed the entire season and the last ten games respectively. And a solid vet brought in to play LT missed 5 games. Line shuffling can make a decent line look really bad in a hurry. Just look at the Packers. And getting a few guys healthy can turn a porous line into a solid line (or at least a lot better).
An offensive line can get a lot better in a hurry with health and a FA signing or two.
Then again, maybe not.
The Jets don't have a lot of cap space as of now, so if they take on Carr or Rodgers a FA signings of any OL are hard to see.
And Becton has barely played the last two seasons, so who knows what he is.
"Becton is a fascinating player. He dominated at times as a rookie when he was healthy. But he has only played one game in the last two years, which makes it hard for the Jets to just pencil him as a starter at this point"
@Chongo posted:Carolina may want 12 but I doubt 12 would agree to it. He's going to want to go to a team he feels are close to making a SB run...Jets are most likely of the suitors. Vegas is a dumpster fire. Carolina is far away.
Rumors out of Bakersfield where Carr's family lives is that they believe Derek will be a Jet.
Carr has had 2 meetings with the Jets, but that OL is a mess and Carr will eat up a whole lot of any cap space the Jets end up with meaning signing a quality FA OL is unlikely.
But that's why the Jets would do better to sign Carr than trading picks for an aging Rodgers, they need those picks to draft OL help.
@PackLandVA posted:Really not that difficult to clear cap space. Weren't the Packers about $15 million over about a week ago. And just like that, they're $17 million under.
The cap is like the speed limit. It's merely a suggestion and only really matters in rare instances or if you are completely irresponsible.
The article I posted listed how the Panthers can clear cap space. But Rodges would eat most of that up. I haven't looked into the caliber of the Panthers OL. Does anyone know?
Typical Schefty, wrong on AR again.
League source confirms that the Panthers have not contacted the Green Bay Packers about Aaron Rodgers.
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) March 2, 2023
@D J posted:Carr has had 2 meetings with the Jets, but that OL is a mess and Carr will eat up a whole lot of any cap space the Jets end up with meaning signing a quality FA OL is unlikely.
But that's why the Jets would do better to sign Carr than trading picks for an aging Rodgers, they need those picks to draft OL help.
I'm sure Carr wouldn't want to go into a situation much like the one he left. He's been beat up a lot for a young-ish guy.
While I agree that trading for him gives the Jets more flexibility with player acquisition. But I'm not sure Johnson is convinced, and would depend on Saleh's advice heavily before making a decision.
@D J posted:Carr has had 2 meetings with the Jets, but that OL is a mess and Carr will eat up a whole lot of any cap space the Jets end up with meaning signing a quality FA OL is unlikely.
But that's why the Jets would do better to sign Carr than trading picks for an aging Rodgers, they need those picks to draft OL help.
This difference between Carr and Rodgers is the Jets could win the SB with Rodgers but not likely with Carr. If the Jets really wanted Carr they would have already signed him. The Saints are talking to Carr again. They tried to trade for him before he became a FA so they've been having negotiations for quite some time. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis told reporters at the combine they “had a good visit” with Carr, and that he would be a “long-term solution” at quarterback for the team.
@D J posted:The article I posted listed how the Panthers can clear cap space. But Rodges would eat most of that up. I haven't looked into the caliber of the Panthers OL. Does anyone know?
Campen is their OL coach and also one of the Carolina connections to Rodgers.
@Chongo posted:[snip]
I think 12 wants to come back, wants to make another run...if the Packers don't want him back, then he will retire. I think the Packers need to be hard-asses on expectations with him...
[snip]
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if 12 comes back, they needs to hold him accountable. No more of this free-range parenting where you're not giving him expectations and structure. He is the #1 leader on the team, and they need to tell him to act like it. I think he'd accept that challenge, and if he doesn't, let him retire.
I believe Gutekunst already shared some of the Packers' parameters for Rodgers returning when they did their post season exit interview.
Gutekunst mentioned "fit" at one of his combine interviews. To me that fit is AR being part of the team.
Who knows, maybe Rodgers saw the possibilities with the young guys and knows what it could mean if he is truly all-in, versus the grind at nearly 40 of a summer of work, and that could be a big factor in his wanting to play.
We all face it at the end of a career. Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Maybe it’s because I’m older and have a different perspective on professional sports, but this doesn’t feel like the Favre situation at all. That said, I haven’t read a single article about #12 since the season ended. I see headlines on Twitter and stop by this board once a week.
From that vantage point, I see a 40 year old dude semi struggling with a choice if he wants to continue his football career or not. Unlike Favre, he hasn’t committed one way or the other and then changed his mind which put the Org in strange positions. The org probably respectfully gave him a deadline of when they need to know by so they can appropriately conduct business and I have seen nothing from 12 that indicates he wouldn’t respect that.
I’m lost in the jungle of AR possibility’s, what is the deadline that they discussed?
Before FA begins, so a little more than a week from now.
@Goalline posted:Maybe it means he is finally going to throw to open guys?
Went back and watched a couple games...I don't think it was always he chose not to throw to open guys...I don't think he saw them TBH.
Maybe all the "plant medicine," while "healing his soul," has baked his fucking brain to the point he just isn't seeing shit like he used to?
@H5 posted:Before FA begins, so a little more than a week from now.
That was agreed on?
@Chongo posted:Maybe all the "plant medicine," while "healing his soul," has baked his fucking brain to the point he just isn't seeing shit like he used to?
Or, as he admitted, he didn't want to be a game manager in MLF's offense and take the easy/underneath throws that were dink-n-dunk to him.
Observers watching him this year and last noticed MLF's offense was starting to look more and more like a MM led offense. And in that kind of offense, Rodgers gets to play plenty of hero ball.
Makes for great ESPN highlights and attention grabbing plays. Right up Rodgers alley. Nevermind the minor detail that he's not 27 anymore and his options are no longer Jordy, Adams, Jennings, and Finley.
Another nothing post. “Betting” is getting a lot of publicity. https://profootballtalk.nbcspo...-land-aaron-rodgers/
@FLPACKER posted:Any chance AR announces intentions on McAfee show Tuesday?
No...there's going to be a TV show called "The Decision II"...
@Chongo posted:Went back and watched a couple games...I don't think it was always he chose not to throw to open guys...I don't think he saw them TBH.
Maybe all the "plant medicine," while "healing his soul," has baked his fucking brain to the point he just isn't seeing shit like he used to?
Absolutely no idea whether it is intentional or not. I just know he used to be really good at it and now he is not. Even during the last 2 MVP years he really just relied on Davante . That backfired against playoff level defenses.
Here's a twitter cut- up from the 2021 season.
Friday fun, enjoy a few throws over the middle and to non-Adams WRs too.
Fans need to stop reading the made up garbage on the internet. I'm pretty damn sure 12 and GB have had plenty of talks by now and know what direction this is going. There's either a restructure to return to GB or they are working on a mutually agreed upon destination for a trade. Of course there are contract issues as well and what to do with Love if 12 returns. There are a ton of moving parts and the fact that GB and 12 haven't spoken to the media about it doesn't mean nothing is happening. It's just none of your fucking business at the moment.
@Pikes Peak posted:That was agreed on?
Gute said at the combine that he wants an answer by March 15 (start of free agency).
@PackerPatrick posted:Another nothing post. “Betting” is getting a lot of publicity. https://profootballtalk.nbcspo...-land-aaron-rodgers/
The Raiders have been the betting favorites for over a month and the line hasn't changed much.
@PackerRick posted:This difference between Carr and Rodgers is the Jets could win the SB with Rodgers ...
The Jets have a mess at OL, they have few weapons. AR isn't winning the SB with that team, not in the 2023 season.
@D J posted:The Jets have a mess at OL, they have few weapons. AR isn't winning the SB with that team, not in the 2023 season.
But Woody Johnson doesn't believe that and that's all that matters. Rodgers gives them a better chance than Carr to win the SB. They were 7-4 until the bottom fell out. I saw how they dominated the Packers when they still had their RB healthy.
@Chongo posted:Went back and watched a couple games...I don't think it was always he chose not to throw to open guys...I don't think he saw them TBH.
Maybe all the "plant medicine," while "healing his soul," has baked his fucking brain to the point he just isn't seeing shit like he used to?
May not be the plants. My eye-sight was perfect until I was about 39. Sometime that year I noticed my focus was not as sharp. My optometrist said it happens to many around that age.
Pffffttt. Jimmy Kimmel is a HUGE asshole.
Used to be a pretty funny guy early in his career, somehow got that late show gig, and started taking himself WAY too seriously.
He actually believes people want to know his opinions on any subject matter...