Green Bay Packers GM says he never promised to trade Aaron Rodgers

GREEN BAY, Wis. — When Aaron Rodgers returned to the Green Bay Packers last July from his offseason hiatus, both sides made it easier to separate this offseason based on adjustments to his contract. General manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday, however, said that he never promised Rodgers that he would trade him after the 2021 season.

So what will the Packers do if Rodgers decides he still wants to play in 2022 but not for Green Bay?

«Those are some hypotheticals that I don't think we're going to go down those roads right now,» Gutekunst said during a news conference intended to preview next week's NFL scouting combine.

It has been widely believed that Rodgers and the Packers had a handshake agreement that if the reigning two-time MVP still wanted out after the 2021 season that they would trade him.

«That was not something I told him,» Gutekunst, who has full control over all roster moves, said in a separate session Wednesday with writers who cover the team. «Again, I think the whole conversation with Aaron last season before he came back was that, regardless, at the end of this past season, that we would sit down as a group and we would work it out one way or another.»

It's unlikely the Packers would play hardball and force Rodgers to play solely for them — and they certainly won't release him and let him get away for free — but Gutekunst said he is not tempted to take a haul of draft picks for Rodgers and/or receiver Davante Adams, who is scheduled to become a free agent next month.

«Because I think we've got as good a shot as anybody to win a Super Bowl next year,» Gutekunst said when asked why he wouldn't trade him. «He's the MVP of the league. That's our goal. I think we have an opportunity to do it right now.