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Packers top 5 wide receivers join Aaron Rodgers as no-shows

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Jordan Love

Not only has quarterback Aaron Rodgers failed to report for the start of the Green Bay Packers voluntary organized team activities (OTAs), but the first workout open to reporters on Tuesday saw the team’s top five veteran receivers skip out as well.

Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown and Devin Funchess were all missing.  In all, 10 of the 89 players on the roster weren’t on the field for practice.  In addition to Rodgers and the receivers, Jaire Alexander, David Bakhtiari, Ka’dar Hollman and Stanford Samuels were no-shows.  Josiah Deguara, Kevin King and Blake Bortles were present but either didn’t participate or were very limited.

Did the wide receivers fail to show up as a move of solidarity in support of Rodgers?  Coach Matt LaFleur said he recently talked with all five and didn’t feel it was a coordinated effort.  But missing all five certainly seems fishy. [Read more…]

Rodgers a no-show for the start of Packers OTA’s

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Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers started the third phase of their offseason program, organized team activities and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as expected, was a no-show on Monday.

Rodgers is one of nearly two dozen Packers players that have offseason workout bonuses built into their contracts.  Rodgers has officially missed enough time to make him ineligible for the bonus.

Rodgers and the Packers are at a reported standstill as to whether or not he wants to play for the Packers any longer.  He has spent all 16 years of his NFL career in Green Bay to this point. [Read more…]

Packers add fourth quarterback to the mix

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Kurt Benkert signs contract

The Green Bay Packers added veteran quarterback Blake Bortles to their roster last week, then signed rookie free agent Kurt Benkert to a contract after he went through the team’s two-day rookie minicamp over the weekend.

Benkert spent the 2018 and 2020 seasons on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad and 2019 on injured reserve.  The Falcons released him in February.

Benkert competed with Chad Kelly during the rookie minicamp before the Packers offered him a contract.

Jordan Love is expected to take part in this week’s rookie development program but wasn’t eligible to participate in the rookie minicamp over the weekend.  By rule, he can join the rookies this week because he played less than 25% of the snaps as a rookie.

Phase 2 of the teams offseason program starts Monday with organized team activities (OTA’s) starting May 24.  Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn’t expected to report for the voluntary program and to date, nobody’s sure if he’ll be on hand for the team’s mandatory minicamp in early June.

Packers adding veteran QB Blake Bortles

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The Green Bay Packers are expected to sign veteran quarterback Blake Bortles to a one-year contract.  The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Shefter on Wednesday.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said on draft weekend that the Packers would be looking to add a veteran quarterback and possibly another rookie quarterback to fill out the roster at the position.  Heading into this week, the Packers had just two quarterbacks on their roster with Aaron Rodgers and 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love.

Bortles was the third pick in the 2014 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was the quarterbacks coach and eventually the offensive coordinator for Bortles from 2015 to 2018.  They reached the AFC Championship Game after the 2017 season.

Bortles last played in 2019 with the Los Angeles Rams and spent time with the Rams and Broncos as a backup last season.

In 73 career starts, Bortles has a 24-49 record with 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions.

To date, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t participated in the Packers offseason program.  They’ll start OTA’s on May 24 with the team’s mandatory minicamp scheduled for June 8-10.

Packers to play five times in 2021 in Prime-Time

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The Green Bay Packers will open the 2021 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 12, in New Orleans against the Saints.  The game is a Fox doubleheader game that kicks off at 3:25 p.m.

If the NFL is concerned about whether or not Aaron Rodgers shows up wasn’t reflected in the number of prime-time games on the 2021 Packers Schedule.  The league gave the Packers the full amount of five prime-time assignments, the first of which comes with the Packers first home game of the season, Monday, Sept. 20 against division rival Detroit.

The Packers will follow that with another prime-time matchup in week three on Sunday night, Sept. 26 at San Francisco. [Read more…]

Packers to open the 2021 regular season at New Orleans

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Bit by bit, the NFL is unveiling details of the 2021-22 regular season schedules on Wednesday with the announcement of the full schedule coming later in the day.

The Green Bay Packers will open the 2021 regular season in New Orleans, against the Saints.  It’s a 3:25 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, Sept. 12th and is the doubleheader game on Fox.

At the moment, neither team is sure who will start at quarterback.  If the Packers and Aaron Rodgers end their standoff, then Rodgers will start.  Otherwise, it could be Jordan Love, or a veteran quarterback not yet on the roster.

The Saints are expected to have a competition between Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston.

According to a CBSSports.com report, the Packers will also host the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day (Saturday, Dec. 25).

The Packers won’t play any London games this season.  The NFL announced that Atlanta will play host to the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 10 and Jacksonville will host Miami on Sunday, Oct. 17 across the pond.

Rodgers draws his line in the sand, says he wants out of Green Bay

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Aaron Rodgers

Despite Aaron Rodgers telling the Green Bay Packers he no longer wants to play in Green Bay, the Packers are at least saying that they believe Rodgers will be barking out signals at Lambeau Field in 2021.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst delivered that message to reporters following day one of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Rodgers had become so disgruntled with the team that he wanted out.

The 37-year-old quarterback, coming off his third NFL MVP honor, is under contract through the 2023 season.  But he has no more guaranteed money left on his deal.

ESPN reported that Gutekunst, Packers coach Matt LaFleur and team president Mark Murphy each met with Rodgers on separate occasions during the offseason and according to the NFL Network, Rodgers had his agent (David Dunn) recently fly to Green Bay for several days of meetings about the situation. [Read more…]

Can Packers make a splash in free agency? Aaron Jones?

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Brian Gutekunst

The Green Bay Packers still have to cut more than $12.5 million just to get under the adjusted $180 million salary cap before the start of the new NFL year, they’ll need to go beyond that if they hope to make any moves in free agency, including bringing back any of their own, such as Aaron Jones and/or Corey Linsley to name two.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke with reporters via zoom on Tuesday.  Certainly a long term deal with Jones would be considerably better for the salary cap, but he didn’t rule out using a tag on Jones.

The last time the Packers used the franchise tag was in 2010, on nose tackle Ryan Pickett.  Losing Jones, without exploring every opportunity to keep him, would be a mistake.

Jones is tied for second in the league the last two years with 30 total touchdowns.  His 5.17 yards per carry career average [Read more…]

Houston releases J.J. Watt, Could Packers be next?

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Former Wisconsin Badger standout J.J. Watt asked the Houston Texans for his release and it was granted today, ending a 10-year run in Houston.

Watt broke the news in a 2-minute video on Twitter Friday morning.

“I came here 10 years ago as a kid from Wisconsin who never really been to Texas before and now I can’t imagine my life without Texas in it,” Watt said.

Watt is a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2017 for his humanitarian work after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area.  He set out to raise $200,000 to help out and by the time he was done, the total collected was $41.6 million. [Read more…]

Rodgers wins third MVP Award

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Aaron Rodgers (File Photo)

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was the favorite to win the NFL’s MVP award on Saturday, so the announcement was not a surprise.  In fact, the only surprise came when he announced that he got engaged during the season.

Rodgers received 44 of the 50 votes conducted by a nationwide panel of media members, becoming just the sixth player to be named the NFL’s MVP at least three times.  He also captured the honor in 2011 and 2014.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen received four votes and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes earned two votes.

Rodgers led the Packers to a 13-3 record, leading the NFL with 48 touchdown passes and just five interceptions.  Rodgers became just the third quarterback in NFL history to lead the league in both categories.  Tom Brady did in in 2010 and Johnny Unitas did it in 1958.

The 37-year-old Packers quarterback completed over 70 percent of his passes for 4,299 yards.  His 48 touchdown passes nearly doubled his total from his first season in Matt LaFleur’s offense, when he threw 26 touchdown passes.

Rodgers joins Brett Favre, Jim Brown, Brady and Unitas as three-time winners.  Peyton Manning has five MVP awards.

Tennessee’s Derrick Henry won the Offensive Player of the Year award.  Aaron Donald of the Rams is the Defensive Player of the Year.  The Chargers Justin Herbert was named Offensive rookie of the year, while Washington’s Chase Young won the Defensive honor.  Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski was named the Coach of the Year and Washington’s Alex Smith captured the Comeback Player of the Year award.