Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers' future in Green Bay in limbo after playoff exit

Updated Jan. 23, 2022 7:14 p.m. ET

The Packers' postseason is no more.

Green Bay's playoff run ceased just about as quickly as it started, as fans watched San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould end the Packers' year with a game-winning, 45-yard field goal in sub-zero conditions.

The loss was perhaps the biggest shock of the postseason thus far, considering that many predicted Green Bay would participate in Super Bowl LVI come mid-February. Now, the future is in focus for Green Bay — and that future begins and ends with Aaron Rodgers.

After his season came to an end Saturday, the reigning MVP said he wasn't certain about his own direction for the weeks and months to come.

"I’m gonna take some time and have conversations with the folks around here and then take some time away and make a decision — obviously before free agency," Rodgers said somberly in Saturday's postgame news conference.

"It's fresh right now, a little shocking. I was hoping to have a nice week after the NFC Championship to enjoy the leadup and then start contemplating some things, so I haven't even really let the moment sink in yet."

That "moment" is front and center for the Packers organization, which has a few critical decisions to make regarding its future.

Money is not in abundance for Green Bay to disperse to some of its key impending free agents, including Davante Adams, Kevin King, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and De’Vondre Campbell.

In fact, the team is largely in debt.

Green Bay currently sits $45.1 million above the salary cap heading into the offseason. That number is set to increase with the start of the new league year following the Super Bowl. In March, the Packers are expected to be $56.4 million above the cap.

Rodgers' own deal takes a significant chunk of that number out of the team's pocketbooks. Next season represents the final year of a restructured deal he inked with Green Bay, which includes a void year following next season, meaning he'd enter unrestricted free agency and be ineligible for a franchise tag in 2023.

Rodgers would cost $46.1 million against the cap should the Packers decide to keep him. That number drops $20 million in the event that he's traded away.

"They could consider where to trade him, something that both sides would agree on," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said Sunday.

Rodgers made clear Saturday night that he was cognizant of the decisions facing Green Bay heading into the offseason and admitted that they could have an effect on his decision.

"Green Bay has a lot of decisions, a lot of guys with opportunities," Rodgers said. "So it will be interesting to see what things look like moving forward. I'll have conversations with [GM] Brian [Gutekunst] in the next week or so and get a little bit more clarity. And think about my own future and how much longer I want to keep doing this."

Added Rodgers: "There are a lot of decisions to be made. Key players, a lot of guys who played tonight. … I don't want to be part of a rebuild if I'm going to keep playing. So a lot of decisions in the next couple of months."

But make no mistake: No decision will be more important for Green Bay than the one made by its future Hall of Fame quarterback.