Former Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk is spilling the tea about his “boy” Aaron Rodgers amid speculation about the quarterback’s playing future.
During the “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Hawk, who co-hosts the show, said he has talked with “multiple” teams that are willing to meet Rodgers’ demands to obtain the longtime Packer this offseason.
“I’ve spoken with people that work for different teams around the league that have told me, ‘Hey, if your boy is leaving Green Bay, tell him he can come here and we’ll give him whatever the hell he wants. He can be the OC, he can do whatever he wants,’” Hawk said.
“I’ve had multiple different people that work high up at teams tell me that, whether that’s joking or not, or they’re being sarcastic, they’ve told me multiple times.”
Hawk — who won Super Bowl XLV with Rodgers in their nine seasons together — did not name the teams he claimed to have heard from.
Rodgers’ decision about whether or not he’ll return for the 2022 season has the league on high alert. He could choose to retire after 17 seasons in Green Bay, return to the Packers, or take his talents to another team.
Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” in January that he would decide by the end of February or early March about his plans for the upcoming season — and that he wouldn’t make it a “drawn-out process,” because “I understand my decision does impact a number of other people’s decisions.”
NFL Teams can officially begin making trades in two weeks when the new league year begins on March 16.
The Broncos have emerged as major contenders in the race for Rodgers. At the NFL Combine on Tuesday, Denver general manager George Paton urged that the team will be aggressive in its quarterback search, without naming Rodgers.
Last month, Broncos legend Terrell Davis said he believes Rodgers will choose Denver as his next landing spot.
“It helps that Nathaniel Hackett, his OC [in Green Bay] is our head coach now. It helps. I’m not saying that was the reason, but it helps,” Davis said at the time.
On Tuesday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the combine that “not a single person” from opposing teams has reached out about a trade for Rodgers so far. — That came after Gutekunst said last week that he never promised to trade Rodgers after the 2021 season.
Gutekunst also declined to share whether he’d honor a trade request. Either way, Green Bay would have to agree to a trade to move forward with any deal.
The Packers are reportedly willing to cough up a lot of money to retain Rodgers. However the team is dealing with a difficult salary cap situation and a bunch of free agents, including All-Pro receiver Davante Adams.
Rodgers, who turned 38 in December, has said he doesn’t want to be part of a rebuilding team.
A decision from Rodgers is reportedly coming “soon,” but fans have learned to expect the unexpected from the two-time reigning NFL MVP.