Aaron Rodgers Blames Packers General Manager for Split From Green Bay

Aaron Rodgers has moved on from the Green Bay Packers and has a problem with the team's general manager. According to The Athletic, Rodgers, who was recently traded to the New York Jets, blames Brian Gutekunst over his split from Green Bay. The outlet also reported that Rodgers' agent, David Dunn asked the Packers to fire Gutekunst in 2021, a year after the team selected Jordan Love in the first round of the NFL Draft to be the next starting quarterback. 

In early 2021, when Rodgers teased a potential retirement or exit from the Packers, Dunn called Packers president Mark Murphy asking the organization to fire Gutekunst. The Packers attempted to "protect the relationship" between Rodgers and Packers head coach Matt Lafleur by indicating the decision to select Love was all Guntekunst. But Rodgers told The Athletic that he didn't buy that explanation because "They all signed off on it."

Rodgers told the outlet the communication between him and Gutekunst was not great but improved in 2021 and 2022. He also mentioned that Packers executive Russ Ball was "the only member of the front office who took (his) message to heart." Another thing Rodgers was upset about is the Davante Adams situation. During the 2022 offseason, Adams joined the Las Vegas Raiders, and Rodgers believes that the Packers initial contract offers led to the All-Pro wide receiver joining a new team. 

And when talking about this offseason, Rodgers was not happy that Gutekunst told reporters that he contact the four-time NFL MVP multiple times to talk about his future with the Packers. Gutekunst said that Rodgers never got back to him, and Rodgers said that is not the case. 

"Did Brian text me more than I texted him?" Rodgers said. "Yeah, but did I ghost him? No. I texted him back. There was back-and-forths that we had and so this is the story you wanna go with? You're gonna stand on this hill of austerity and say that arguably in the conversation of the best player in your franchise history, you're gonna say I couldn't get a hold of him and that's why we had to move on? Like, c'mon man. Just tell the truth, you wanted to move on. You didn't like the fact that we didn't communicate all the time. Like, listen, I talk to the people that I like."