Seaside Friday Thoughts: Where Aaron Rodgers and Julio Jones will play in 2021
And when will the NFL Network go back into the studio?
I have thoughts to get off of my mind
Wrapping up the week in Rodgers, I believe he’s gone unless the Packers do something really shocking and extend him to a new contract. The rumors are that Aaron Rodgers did ask for more money after winning MVP, and Green Bay refused. Because of that, and the fact that the Packers have the worst financial situation for any team in 2022, I think that GM Brian Gutekunst saw the Lions get two firsts for Matthew Stafford and believed he could have his cake and eat it too, next year. Trade Rodgers, get three firsts, hand the team over to Jordan Love. This is Rodgers’ last chance for leverage, so he’s going to get out of Green Bay. But no matter how Aaron Rodgers tries to spin this — “It’s a philosophy” and “It’s about the people” — all that he’s doing is holding for a new contract. Few NFL players have worse reputations when it comes to their attitude and Rodgers’ “cockiness” has been following him since he slipped in the 2005 draft. So it behooves him to not also become “a greedy quarterback” on top of everything else and to instead frame this holdout as a difference in philosophy because we’ve seen how quickly fans will turn on ANY player once he wants more money. Here’s what I rarely hear about any player, including MVPs: “I hope the team gives him more money and loses cap space.” That’s never going to happen. Not with Rodgers, not with Russell Wilson, not with any player.
Maybe it’s time for the NFL media to start calling it what it is: Aaron Rodgers is HOLDING OUT for a new contract and DEMANDING A TRADE if he doesn’t get one.
Framing the Aaron Rodgers situation as anything other than a contract holdout is similar to how the world has framed sales people as “influencers.” Calling YouTubers, Instagrammers, and TikTokers “influencers” is a marketing technique that flipped one of the oldest (and most hated) professions in the world into something that sounds desirable and fun. But make no mistake: no “influencer” ever cashes checks from Instagram or Twitter. They cash checks from companies that make products that aren’t even good enough to get into Target and Wal-Mart. And Aaron Rodgers is not just a philosopher. He’s a quarterback who is holding out for a new contract.
Where will Aaron Rodgers play next season? Last year, I thought there were only three teams that could land Tom Brady and I ranked them in this order: Patriots, Buccaneers, 49ers. Few people saw Tampa Bay’s pitch to Brady being the best of any team, but that’s how I saw it. And this is how I see the Rodgers situation: He makes the most sense with the Las Vegas Raiders. I won’t take the Packers completely off the perch but they don’t seem to have the ability to meet his contract demands and Gutekunst seems to realllllly want to go to Love soon.
The NFL is dreaming of Rodgers and Stafford being the first quarterbacks to play in front of home crowds at SoFi Stadium and Allegiant Stadium. In Week 1, the Rams are on Sunday Night Football and the Raiders are on Monday Night Football. Rodgers vs Ravens in Week 1 might be the highest-rated MNF game in years. People might actually get ESPN again. The Raiders also have the money and the need and Rodgers vs Mahomes would make the 2021 season even more anticipated than it already is, so I really think this is the most sensible solution.
The Raiders would probably need to include a third team, maybe even a fourth. They’d send Derek Carr somewhere and they might even get a first round pick for him. That first would go to Green Bay, obviously. Let’s say that the Raiders could get two second rounders for Carr (reasonable!), well that would be attractive to the Packers too. There’s only one team that looks really pathetic at quarterback, so I could see Carr going to the Texans, which would facilitate a Deshaun Watson trade, too. Las Vegas would save $20 million by trading Carr, enough to add Rodgers, and they’ll have $70 million in cap space for 2022, enough to give Rodgers a big extension.
Julio Jones will be traded too. The only reason I don’t love that is that I laid some money on Matt Ryan to win MVP at 75-to-1 odds, back when few people other than me expected them to draft Kyle Pitts. I underestimated the need to trade Julio, though, and so it’s not great for Ryan’s MVP campaign if he loses the best receiver on the team. Maybe the best receiver in the NFL. I don’t care about his age, Julio Jones is the best WR of the decade and if there’s a guy who could have a dominant 30s, it’s him.
If the Packers trade Rodgers, it’s not crazy to think that they could try to add Julio. If they add firsts and seconds for Rodgers, they’ll have draft capital and cap space. Green Bay’s free agents in 2022 includes Davante Adams — and all of their other receivers too. Getting Jordan Love both Julio and Davante next year, that might actually help the Packers get to the playoffs without Rodgers.
Where will Julio actually go? First of all, a team needs at least $15 million in cap space to add him. There aren’t many teams that have that right now. The Jags have $30 million in space, the most in the NFL. They have the number one QB, plus D.J. Chark, Marvin Jones, and Laviska Shenault. Chark is a good young receiver, but injuries have been an issue and he’s a free agent in 2022. What if the Jags offered Chark, plus a third and a fourth? (Jaguars’ second rounder is basically going to be a first, probably.)
The Browns have cap space and Odell Beckham has not yet jived with Baker Mayfield. Is there a way to make all these pieces work together?
The Chargers have Justin Herbert and are my surprise pick to win the AFC. Keenan Allen, Julio Jones, and Mike Williams is as strong as what the Bucs had last year with their wide receiver weapons, at least. LA could afford it and Julio would be going to SoFi Stadium, another hopeful scenario for the NFL. The Chargers could consider trading their first round pick for Jones.
Certainly the Patriots should be in the mix, and the Cardinals could be desperate right now for another weapon.
I’ve been watching a lot more NFL Network this year and I have one question: is the network seriously going to be sticking with this “Talking heads from their home webcams” format? We all understand how and why this started, but when there is 100-percent capacity at every NFL stadium next year, what’s the excuse for having all of your on-air talent providing their own: cameras, microphones (I’m still seeing PROFESSIONAL BROADCASTERS ON TV using the snowball microphone), wardrobes, sets, lighting, etc. This is kind of crazy to me and it’s not just the NFL Network. It’s many ESPN shows too. I don’t want to have every broadcaster whose talking about football to be STARING RIGHT AT ME when they do it (the Zooms are getting out of hand) and the NFL Network must hold itself to a higher standard than “literally anyone on YouTube.”
Kenneth