It makes sense, since he spent 18 years at Lambeau Field and looked set to spent his entire career with them. But there’s another reason that explains why it gave so much to talk about, which is the way he left.

For a long time, it felt like something was off between A-Rod and the front office. However, Rodgers claims he never ‘ghosted’ Brian Gutekunst before making his trade request, as the GM suggested.

Aaron Rodgers says he never ‘ghosted’ Brian Gutekunst

“Did Brian text me more than I texted him? Yeah, but did I ghost him? No,” Rodgers told The Athletic. “I texted him back. There was back-and-forths that we had and so this is the story you wanna go with?

“You’re gonna stand on this hill of austerity and say that arguably in the conversation of the best player in your franchise history, you’re gonna say I couldn’t get a hold of him and that’s why we had to move on? Like, c’mon man. Just tell the truth, you wanted to move on. You didn’t like the fact that we didn’t communicate all the time. Like, listen, I talk to the people that I like.”

Rodgers had already flirted with leaving the Packers in the past, and this time he made up his mind. It wasn’t an easy choice, but in the end, he got the trade that he wanted. Even so, he still looks upset with his former GM.

2022 has been particularly tough for Rodgers. It took him long to get over Davante Adams‘ departure, and when he finally found some chemistry with his young wideouts, it was too late. Retirement, playing for another team, or even staying in Green Bay, every possibility seems to be on the table for Rodgers.

Technically, he’s still under contract for a few more years with the Packers, after the team tied him down to a lucrative extension in 2022. Therefore, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst hopes Rodgers doesn’t leave themonly a year later.

Brian Gutekunst expects Aaron Rodgers to stay committed with the Packers

“He’s certainly going to take some time. I think that’s fair,” Gutekunst said, via ProFootballTalk. “And as we work through this, I think as he takes his time, makes his decision just on his playing career in general, then we’ll get together and move forward that way.

“We made a really big commitment to him last offseason. So I think as we did that, it wasn’t certainly for just this year. So we’ll — like I said, he’s going to take his time and the communication will be pretty constant as we move forward.”

“I really respect the process he goes through after the season,” Gutekunstcontinued.“He’s done this for a long time. What he goes through during the offseason to get prepared for a season is significant. And I understand the decision he has to make on whether he wants to go through that. So, I’ve always tried to give him that time.”

Gutekunst does the right thing in respecting Rodgers‘time to think about his future, but not without reminding the effort made by the Packersjust a year ago. After all, the front office seems to want Rodgers to come back despite things didn’t go as expected in 2022.

“Well certainly this year, I think he was dealing with some moving pieces, some injuries — things like that,” Gutekunst added. “It wasn’t a great year offensively for us as a whole. But I mean, you guys saw, he can still play at a very high level. Really liked the way he led us. So, I think as we move forward over the next month or so, we’ll start putting these things together and see how that transpires.”