Rich Eisen: 'The Packers sure hope Aaron Rodgers doesn't want to come back'

After spending the first 18 years of his career with the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be ready to move on. According to NFL insider Rich Eisen, the franchise definitely is.

Rodgers has been mulling his options for the 2023 season, which include retirement, requesting a trade or returning to Green Bay for a 19th year. On The Rich Eisen Show on Monday, Eisen revealed that he has heard rumors that the Packers are hoping for anything but the last option.

“The Packers sure hope that Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want to come back,” he said. “They sure hope that when he comes to his decision that it is ‘I wish to retire’ or ‘I wish to be traded elsewhere.’ They do not want his response to be, ‘let’s run it back.’ When I say I heard that over and over and over again — you have no idea what’s going on there. I cannot sit here and say I have facts from ground zero in Wisconsin. Clearly Rodgers has told you through his many appearances, certainly on (Pat) McAfee’s show, that nobody — like a very, very small subset of people — knows what he’s thinking.

“I’m saying the hot rumor at the combine is the Packers want an answer from Aaron Rodgers to be ‘no more.’ Because also, I don’t think they wanna be the ones to end the relationship. If he does come back, you’ve got a first ballot Hall of Famer coming back. But deep down, I’m hearing, boy, they do not want that answer from him.”

This past season, Rodgers led the Packers to a 9-8 record, though they narrowly missed the playoffs. He finished with 3,695 yards passing, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Regardless of what happens, Rodgers will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in Packers history. He led the team to a Super Bowl victory in the 2010 season, won four MVP awards and made 10 Pro Bowl appearances. He is also the franchise’s all-time leader with 475 touchdown passes and ranks second with 59,055 passing yards.

Rodgers is guaranteed $59.4 million if he plays in 2023. That kind of money could be hard to leave on the table, but the quarterback has clearly earned enough across his career to make it an option. If he decides against retirement, the Jets and Raiders appear to be the top two options for a potential trade.