Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are officially in a holdout situation that escalating over the course of the 2021 NFL offseason.
Rodgers did not report to the team’s mandatory minicamp, which began Tuesday morning with team meetings. The reigning NFL MVP has voiced his frustrations with the Packers’ management that has reached no resolution as of yet. While Packers management is hopeful he will play in Green Bay this season, Rodgers has told some teammates that he will not play for the Packers again and wants to be traded.
Despite maintaining their position on Rodgers playing in Green Bay this season, the Packers brought in an insurance plan to second-year quarterback Jordan Love.
On May 13th the Packers officially signed veteran quarterback Blake Bortles. Bortles has quality NFL experience and started in the AFC conference game during the 2017 NFL season, losing to the New England Patriots.
Rodgers can continue to hold out or he can retire if the Packers don’t meet his demands. That decision will come with a personal financial burden. He will forfeit his base salary of $14.7 million in 2021. Additionally, the Packers could force him to pay back previously earned bonuses. This is all on top of daily fines for every mandatory practice he misses.
Because the minicamp is mandatory, Rodgers is subject to daily fines for each absence this week.
Devante Adams recently expressed support out for his teammate telling the media:
I’ll stand on the f—ing, excuse me, I’ll stand on the mountain and scream on the mountaintop that I’ve got his back.
Rodgers is coming off a phenomenal MVP season that built on an already fantastic career.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this situation is going to resolve itself anytime soon as Adam Shefter of ESPN reported on June 7th:
Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers is not expected to attend Green Bay’s mandatory minicamp that starts Tuesday, per sources. Green Bay could opt to fine him $93,085 for his absences or it could make it an excused absence and waive the fine. But Rodgers is not expected there.
