Rodgers wants to play in Minnesota and is waiting to hear the team’s decision, according to a report from The Athletic.
Aaron Rodgers reportedly has two offers sitting on the table, but he’s waiting on the Minnesota Vikings.
According to a report from The Athletic, Rodgers wants to sign with the Vikings and he’s waiting on Minnesota to do its due diligence before making a decision on his future. The 41-year-old quarterback, who’s a four-time NFL MVP and won a Super Bowl MVP with the Green Bay Packers, reportedly has offers on the table from the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants, but Rodgers has put both teams on hold as he waits for more clarity on the Vikings’ interest, per The Athletic.
It could even be Vikings or bust, per the report, as Rodgers could opt for retirement should Minnesota not be an option.
League sources believe Kevin O’Connell will be the one making the decision, according to The Athletic. Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf have been notably hands off in their front-office approach, allowing the team’s decision-makers to make the moves they believe best position the franchise for success. That’s an approach that’s been mostly successful. While the Vikings remain without a Super Bowl victory, they have the seventh-best winning percentage of all time (.551).
So if the reporting is accurate, whether Rodgers lands in Minnesota is firmly in the hands of O’Connell, who’s gone 34-17 in the regular season in three years as Vikings coach and regularly gotten the best out of his quarterbacks, though he’s yet to bring a playoff victory to Minnesota. Will it be Rodgers, a decorated 20-year veteran who’s accomplished it all, or J.J. McCarthy, the young guy the Vikings are high on but is unproven and missed his entire rookie season due to injury?
It appears Rodgers knows what he wants, and there’s reason to believe it makes sense on both sides. The Vikings have a surplus of weapons from Justin Jefferson to Jordan Addison to T.J. Hockenson to his old buddy from Green Bay in Aaron Jones. They bolstered the interior of the offensive line in free agency and will return one of the premier left tackles in the NFL from injury. Both Rodgers and the Vikings could feel like Rodgers is the missing piece on a Super Bowl-ready team.
The Vikings still view Rodgers as a highly-skilled passer and believe he can perform at a high level, per The Athletic. While there appears to be at some interest from Minnesota, other insiders aren’t so convinced such as Benjamin Allbright, who covers the Denver Broncos for KOA 850 AM. He thinks the interest from the Vikings is wildly overstated, and then some.
“I’ll be more blunt. The Vikings have no interest in Aaron Rodgers, despite his interest in them,” Allbright posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
Rodgers had a down year, comparatively, last season, throwing for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 63% of his passes. And at 41, Rodgers clearly isn’t the future of the franchise and is most likely a one-year solution, and if he’s brought on, there’s the question of what it does to the confidence of McCarthy, whom O’Connell proclaimed the quarterback of the future after McCarthy’s meniscus injury last preseason. There’s a lot to be considered.
Does Rodgers have more football in him? Is McCarthy ready to take the reins? Who provides the best chance to win now?
Those are likely among the things O’Connell is considering as he makes the decision whether to bring Rodgers into the fold. Only time will tell if Rodgers gets the opportunity to complete the Brett Favre arc and sign a deal in Minnesota.