Editorial

Is This Is It For Aaron Rodgers In The NFL? Is He Leaving The Packers? Future HOF’er Leaves Open Unanswered Questions

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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Randall Cobb walk up the tunnel together in an emotional moment between the two after their elimination from the NFL playoffs following their 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions. [Twitter/Screenshot/Public -- User: @IHaveFourBalls]

[Twitter/Screenshot/Public -- User: @IHaveFourBalls]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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Retirement, or the end of an era in Green Bay? This could honestly go either way for Aaron Rodgers.

Heading into the Sunday Night Football regular season finale for the entire NFL, the Green Bay Packers had an opportunity to make the playoffs with a win over the Detroit Lions, who were eliminated from contention earlier in the day after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams.

The stage was set for the Packers. They had the opportunity to grab a playoff spot on primetime Sunday Night Football on their own turf of Lambeau Field against their hated rival Detroit Lions. They knew what they had to do: Win, and you’re in. Former NFL wide receiver K.J. Wright even said last week that this exact scenario would see them taking on a deflated Lions team after their elimination, setting it up even more for Green Bay.

It looked like the stars were lining up for Rodgers and the Packers to make the postseason.

And then, it happened:

After Green Bay was eliminated following their 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions, multiple incidents with Aaron Rodgers opened up the floodgates on two big questions involving the future Hall of Famer. Is Rodgers heading towards retirement? And could Rodgers be leaving the Green Bay Packers for a new team?

The first incident came right after the game, when Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams asked to swap jerseys with Rodgers, which Rodgers has done before on several occasions. However, things would go differently here, with Rodgers saying, “I’m going to hold onto this one.”

Then, as Rodgers was walking up the tunnel to head back to the locker room, he had an emotional moment with his best friend and teammate Randall Cobb. When an NBC camera attempted to get a closer shot of the two, Rodgers told the camera to get out of their way, and they proceeded to walk up with their arms around each other.

Aaron Rodgers then gave us these nuggets in his comments to the press:

Aaron Rodgers is certainly acting and talking like somebody who is about to retire, but I’m thinking this has to do with him leaving the Green Bay Packers and heading to a new team, especially considering he literally just said this two weeks ago:

See, Aaron Rodgers is set to make $59,515,000 next year, and I don’t think the Packers are necessarily excited to pay that, especially with Rodgers turning 40 next year and Jordan Love ready to take his place — and Green Bay has been planning this for years now. I’m thinking Rodgers is aware that his time as Green Bay’s “one” is limited, and I think he’s gearing up for an exit out of the only franchise that he’s ever played for in his entire NFL career.

Plus, to be quite frank, Green Bay just isn’t a good team. The only reason they got as far as they did was because of Aaron Rodgers. (RELATED: ‘The Window Is My Whole Career’: Joe Burrow Gives Slick Answer When Asked About Super Bowl Chances)

So if you’re him, why would you want to stay with a not-so-good team who doesn’t even want you at this point, when you can go to — let’s say Miami — who has a much better roster and much warmer weather, and who also has money to spend on an elite quarterback next season? (And not to mention the no state income tax in Florida)

Like I said, he sounds like he’s retiring, but I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see this man in South Beach next year.