National Football League

The definitive Aaron Rodgers-Packers offseason timeline from both perspectives

Updated Mar. 28, 2023 3:30 p.m. ET

The impending trade of current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets is still a long way from being done.

We have known from Rodgers himself that his intention is to play for the Jets in 2023 since March 15 when he went on "The Pat McAfee Show" for the non-announcement announcement. It was the first time the public heard definitively of Rodgers' desire to leave the Packers, the franchise he has been with for his entire 18-year career.

Still, both sides remain at an impasse. League meetings in Arizona this week have yielded no new information on the trade itself.

Yet, in a classic he-said, he-said scenario, we finally got to hear the Packers' side of how this saga all transpired up until this point.

To know where you're going, you first must know where you've been, right?

Well, here it is. The definitive Rodgers Trade Saga timeline as we know it.

Book One: The Gospel According to Rodgers

Week of January 8: First week of the offseason

Rodgers and Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst take stock of the season, which ended without a postseason berth and in the bottom third of Rodgers' individual seasons. He passed for 3,695 yards with 26 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. He had a completion rate of 64.6, which was a regression from 68.9% the prior year, when he won a second straight MVP.

"We come up to last year, and, obviously, we missed the playoffs, and I didn't have an MVP season," Rodgers told McAfee. "I was interested in where [the Packers] would be at mentally. Everything that I was told in the week that I was in Green Bay was take as long as you want and, you know, we wanted to retire a Packer. If you want to come back and play, obviously the door's wide open."

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End of February: Rodgers goes on a five-day, four-night darkness retreat

Rodgers went off the grid in hopes of gaining more mental clarity by submerging himself in total darkness and silence. He went into this retreat "90% retired" by his own admission and spent one day in the darkness contemplating a reality in which he retired and another entire day contemplating a reality in which he kept playing.

"That was information that I was going on," he further told McAfee. "Now when I came out of the darkness, something changed. I'm not exactly sure what that was but something changed. And I go back to my phone after five days off of it … and when I got back to that little shack they have where there's one bar of Wi-Fi, now I go back to 200 text messages and emails and all different things. I realized that there had been a little bit of a shift and that I heard from multiple people that I trust around the league, players mostly, that there was some shopping going on. That they were interested in actually moving me. At this point, I gotta admit, I went into the darkness 90% retiring, 10% going. That's where my mind was.

"My mind was, I'm tired, I haven't gone back to my workouts yet, and I thought that that was what was best for me. So while in the darkness, I contemplated a lot of things but one day I spent entirely on the reality that I was retiring and one day I spent on the reality I was coming back and playing. I just really stuck with that for hours and hours: what that looked like, what the reality is, how it all felt. And when I came out I was really interested in what the landscape was, where Green Bay was at, if I wanted to play, what were the options? So it was clear to me at that point that although the Packers were going to say the right thing publicly, that they were ready to move on.'"

Days after the "Darkness": Rodgers learns of Green Bay's intention to move on

Now, according to Rodgers, he's upset to learn that he was "being shopped" around and wished there had been more communication between him and the Packers.

"I just think I wish that in the beginning of the offseason that had been the conversation because I love the right communication," he said. "If they had just said listen, we think it's time to move in different direction, and we love you, and you know you're going to be a Packer Hall of Famer, you're going in the Hall (of Fame) as a Packer, we're sorry, whatever it might be, but it's time to move on, I would have said, ‘Man, thank you so much just for telling me that.’ Like I really, really appreciate that. That means the world to me that you would even tell me that because I really do believe that's the sentiment and that's fine. It really is. It's totally fine. This is an incredible profession, but it's a tough business."

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According to Michael Silver, the Packers have become "exhausted" with Aaron Rodgers and might move on from the QB this offseason.

This isn't the first time Rodgers has voiced his displeasure with how the current front office handles things, either. Prior to the above quotes, he had explained in detail how this newer regime drafted his replacement and how they went about things compared to the regime he was drafted under; a regime Rodgers effusively praised in the process.

"Some of these issues were things I was talking about two years ago," said Rodgers. "It was how do we treat older players on the way out, and it's ironic that now I'm that player. But I guess the beauty in life is the sense of humor that the universe has. No malice, no bitterness toward the Packers, but it's been bittersweet for sure the last 10 days.

"So I've shifted my focus to entertaining what playing would look like and the Packers granted permission for the Jets to come out and visit with me. It was a nice visit."

March 7: Jets owner Woody Johnson and others visit Rodgers in California

Green Bay granted New York permission to speak to Rodgers. Members of the Jets leadership team boarded a private jet and flew across three time zones in order to speak with the future Hall of Fame quarterback about the prospect of joining the team.

"I told them this: that I'm not ready to make a decision about anything," Rodgers said he told the Jets. "I want to get back into my workouts and see how it feels, to really hit it hard for a week. Obviously, I had been working out before that but to really hit it hard for a week to see if that drive and passion is still there. And then I'll see where we're at."

It is on this day, Tuesday, that Rodgers says he made the decision to play again, though he didn't tell the Jets and didn't quite admit it to himself, either. But on the McAfee show, he admits that it's probably when he knew he would play football in 2023 ... at least, that's what it sounds like from his quote.

"Again, this is why this is not a decision here. The decision I think was made in my mind, whether or not I was able to admit at that point, really on that Tuesday I wanted to play. And then it was, how's my body feeling? Is it gonna be able to hold up?"

March 10: When Rodgers says he definitively makes up his mind

After the visit, Rodgers said he worked out and not only arrived at the definitive conclusion he would play, but that he would play for the New York Jets.

"At this point, as I sit here, I think since Friday, I made it clear that my intention was to play and my intention was to play for the New York Jets. And I haven't held anything up at this point. It's been compensation and the package they're trying to get for me and kind of digging their heels in."

March 15: Rodgers "clears things up" on "The Pat McAfee Show"

"This isn't decision day," he said after talking about his darkness retreat for upwards of 10 minutes. "This isn't me announcing to the world that this is what's going on. In fact, that's already happened. We're actually days past this."

So, in fact, he was days past his decision. But not by many. The appearance took place on a Wednesday, just five days after he had made his decision to play for the Jets.

Aaron Rodgers was "90 percent" retired going into darkness retreat

Aaron Rodgers announced on "The Pat McAfee Show" that he "intends" to play for the New York Jets next season.

Now, it's entirely possible there were trade talks engaged between the two teams as soon as Green Bay granted New York permission to speak to Rodgers. Even if that was the case, from the time the Jets spoke with him to the time Rodgers told the world of his intent, that only gave both teams about eight days to work out a very complex trade — one that includes a massive contract Rodgers is owed in addition to no guarantee he will play past 2023.

By Rodgers' timeline, he went into his darkness retreat almost two months after having an end-of-season conversation with Gutekunst in which he was under the impression the Packers would wait on a decision from him on whether or not he would play this coming season. He then comes out of the darkness retreat surprised to learn that Green Bay has been "shopping him" around, which was based on information he got from "players, mostly." We don't know if he changed his mind while on his retreat or after learning about the Packers' desire to move on, but he then decides definitively about a week later he will play football and will play football for the Jets.

There was also mention of other teams being interested. Rodgers heavily hinted at the Las Vegas Raiders being one of those teams but wouldn't say for sure, given that any conversations between him and another team would be tampering.

There's one large contradiction to all of this that Rodgers said later on in his appearance with McAfee. In rehashing some of his sentiments and Green Bay's decision to move on, Rodgers says this:

"Especially even toward the end of season, I felt like everybody was ready to move on. And, you know, I was interested by what (that) conversation would be the week after the season, but it was pretty obvious."

So, back up to him coming out of his retreat wanting to hear what the Packers wanted to do, or even further to those January conversations between him and Gutekunst. If he knew then that "everybody was ready to move on," why was it surprising that Green Bay would have "shopped" him? If he was leaning toward retirement, why would those conversations of "just in case" have affected him?

Something doesn't quite add up.

Which brings us to…

Book 2: The Gospel According to Brian Gutekunst

Gutekunst was present at league meetings and met with the media Monday. He was asked about Rodgers comments and "going behind Rodgers' back" to shop him by The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.

"I didn't really take his comments like that," Gutekunst said. "And it's certainly not true."

Week of January 8: the offseason conversation

"I mean, I think, as we got out of the offseason, or after the season, and we had a good conversation, and then we were going to have some follow-up conversations," Gutekunst said.

So far, so good. The stories are lining up, and we know there was a conversation between Gutekunst and Rodgers immediately following the season.

But here's where things get a little murky. Rodgers' timeline made no mention of the time between that conversation and when he went on his darkness retreat at the end of February.

Sometime between the week of January 8 and the end of February: radio silence

There doesn't seem to have been any conversations between Rodgers and anyone from the Packers' front office during this time. And it doesn't sound like it was for lack of trying on the Packers' part.

Communication goes both ways. If Rodgers wished it would have been different, it seems as though that was something he was in control of.

"Our inability to reach him or for him to respond in any way, I think at that point, then I had to do my job and kind of reach out, understanding that a trade could be possible and see who was interested. But shopping was never really part of that."

So Gutekunst doesn't hear from Rodgers, despite repeated attempts to reach him, and figures he had better be prepared for alternate scenarios.

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Some time after the end of February and before March 7: The Packers learn of Rodgers' intentions

"I think obviously it was a disappointing season, right?" Gutekunst said Monday. "And you come out of the season, you have a lot of conversations not only with Aaron, but with the rest of the team, coaches and everybody. Then as you go through that process, you kind of get an idea of where you're gonna move as a team, how you're gonna go forward. And I think I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron and to see how he fit into that. Those never transpired.

"So, you know, there came a time where we had to make some decisions. So we went through his representatives to try to kind of talk to him where we were going with our team and at that point, you know, they informed us they would like to be traded to the Jets."

Where the Jets entered the conversation wasn't immediately clear — whether Gutekunst had spoken to New York general manager Joe Douglas, whom he has known for over two decades, prior to Rodgers' request, or if Rodgers' request came before the parties had spoken.

But what it sounds like from Green Bay's side is that the lack of communication wasn't their doing. They had tried multiple times, while trying to figure out how to improve after one of their worst seasons in the last five years. They needed time and contingency plans and therefore explored a trade scenario, seeing what teams would be interested.

Now, instead of communicating directly with Rodgers, they were communicating with his representatives and were informed of a plan Rodgers already had: he would play football in 2023 and would do so for the New York Jets.

Neither side has a ton of urgency. There isn't an incentive to move quickly. Gutekunst wants "premier picks" for a "premier player" while the Jets don't know how much to give up knowing Rodgers could only be in New York for a year. Not to mention, he comes with a $60 million price tag.

The Packers don't need a decision before Rodgers' option comes due, which isn't until training camp. Even then, it would be a tough pill to swallow but they could carry his salary. That had been in the plans when they gave him the new contract prior to last season. It'd likely be to ride the bench, given that they have voiced confidence in Jordan Love to take the reins, and it would make Rodgers the highest-paid backup in history. But that's a long way off.

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The Jets are in no hurry themselves. Despite the fact it's ideal to get a new quarterback in as soon as possible to acclimate to his new system, they have one of Rodgers' best friends at offensive coordinator, running a system Rodgers is intimately familiar with. Douglas pointed that out at league meetings.

This saga is still far from over, though it seems both sides plan for the trade to eventually go through. When and how it does, well, we'll turn around Book Three: The rest of the story.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.

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