Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he wants to retire with the Green Bay Packers and end his career at Lambeau Field.

With the 41-year-old set to face his former team on Sunday Night Football, the quarterback outlined some of his retirement plans on Thursday during a Zoom call with Green Bay reporters.

“I was there for 18 years,” Rodgers said via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “Regardless of when I hang it up, that’s the bulk of my career. I’ll retire a Packer and see what happens after that.”

Rodgers also said he had “some of the best years” of his life in Green Bay and has “nothing but love for the organization.”

Earlier this summer, the former Super Bowl XLV champion said he was “pretty sure” the 2025 season would be his last in the NFL. Rodgers is currently under a one-year deal with the Steelers after signing for the franchise in June.

Sunday night was Rodgers’ first time playing against the Packers since he left Wisconsin after the 2022 season.

“I’ve got a lot of love for those memories and a lot of great friends that I still carry with me to this day.”

The Packers entered 2024 with hopes of winning the division and making a deep playoff run after winning as a seven seed in 2023, but failed to go 11-6 and lost to the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. The Packers still had a great season, thanks in part to significant contributions from newly signed free agents Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. The Packers’ season, however, was highlighted by quarterback Jordan Love’s nagging injuries all season from a sprained MCL, a groin injury and an elbow injury suffered in week 18.

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The Packers knew they would have to reload in the 2025 offseason, giving Love and the Packers more playmakers along the team. They signed big free agents like cornerback Nate Hobbs from the Raiders and guard Aaron Banks from the 49ers. They also signed other names, like wide receiver Mecole Hardman and Isiah Simmons. The biggest offseason news surrounded the team’s star cornerback Jaire Alexander, who had missed most of last season with a knee injury. Alexander had now missed 20 games in the last two seasons due to injury and was eventually cut by the Packers. The Packers also lost center Josh Meyers, cornerback Erik Stokes, defensive tackle T.J. Slaton and running back A.J. Dillon. As the season started, they hit gold, signing Cowboy Micah Parsons.

The Packers hosted the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay for the first time in Packers history and made the selection of the first round, selecting wide receiver Matthew Golden out of Texas with the 23rd overall pick. This was the first time the Packers had picked a wide receiver in the first round since 2002. The Packers also selected tackle Anthony Belton in the second round, wide receiver Savion Williams in the third round and edge rusher Barryn Sorrell in the fourth.

The Packers have the sixth-hardest schedule in the NFL, according to Fox Sports, and open their season vs the Lions at home in a divisional matchup that will have huge playoff implications. The Packers will need to perform better than going 1-5 in divisional games if they hope to compete in a very competitive NFC North. The Packers’ key matchups are week two vs the Commanders, week 10 vs. the Eagles, week 13 vs the Lions on Thanksgiving and the biggest game of the year vs the Steelers in week eight.

GREEN BAY PACKERS SCHEDULE & TICKET DEALS

• Week 1: Sept. 7 vs. Detroit Lions
• Week 2: Sept. 11 vs. Washington Commanders (Thursday Night Football)
• Week 3: Sept. 21 at Cleveland Browns
• Week 4: Sept. 28 at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday Night Football)
• Week 5: Bye Week
• Week 6: Oct. 12 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
• Week 7: Oct. 19 at Arizona Cardinals
• Week 8: Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday Night Football)
• Week 9: Nov. 2 vs. Carolina Panthers
• Week 10: Nov. 10 vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Monday Night Football)
• Week 11: Nov. 16 at New York Giants
• Week 12: Nov. 23 vs. Minnesota Vikings
• Week 13: Nov. 27 at Detroit Lions (Thanksgiving Day)
• Week 14: Dec. 7 vs. Chicago Bears
• Week 15: Dec. 14 at Denver Broncos
• Week 16: Dec. 20 at Chicago Bears (Saturday doubleheader on Fox)
• Week 17: vs. Baltimore Ravens
• Week 18: Jan. 4, 2026 at Minnesota Vikings

Green Bay Packers Season/Game Odds

Green Bay has +2000 odds of winning the Super Bowl in 2025 and +950 odds of winning the NFC championship. They open the season as -1.5 favorites vs the Lions at home in week one and are favored in 13 of their 17 games this season. 

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Lineback standout Micah Parsons delivered a game-changing debut with the Green Bay Packers in Sunday night’s opening game against the Detroit Lions with disruptive plays on limited snaps.

Despite the late August acquisition from the Dallas Cowboys, Parson has made an immediate mark on the Packers with relentless pressure. He got his first sack and was second on the team with three pressures in the 27-13 win at Lambeau Field.

His presence helped end a three-game losing streak with the Lions. He did it all in 29 of the 65 defensive snaps despite recovering from a back injury and minimal practice time.

The Packers introduced Parsons last during pregame announcements, with the home crowd erupting with cheers. Wearing No. 1 on his jersey, he delivered an energy that head coach Matt Lafleur did not anticipate.

Parson’s impact stretched beyond his own highlights in the game. With Detroit focusing heavily on Parson, the Packers’ defense was able to pressure quarterback Jared Goff constantly.

Later in the fourth quarter, Parsons reached his fastest record speed as a pro of 18.47 mph as he chased down Goff for the fourth-quarter sack. Parsons’ arrival sparks a change in the Packers’ dynamics.

Following the groundbreaking game, Parsons didn’t hold back. He described his offseason with the Cowboys as “toxic” in a mix of stalled contracts and expressed relief to be on the Packers now.

“I’m telling you, these last six months were super draining, super toxic for everyone,” Parson said to reporters. “I think the fact that I was traded a week before the season was really outrageous and rough. It’s something where I could have been with these guys, getting better and better, and we could’ve had an even more dominant start.”

Green Bay now features a centerpiece in its defensive line who commands attention just from entering the game.

The Green Bay Packers will face the Washington Commanders next Thursday night, with Parson expected to lead the defense, continuing to be confident and aggressive.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst provided an update on injured wide receiver Jayden Reed and cornerback Nate Hobbs as the season opener approaches.

Gutekunst said he was “hopeful” that the duo can return in time for Week 1, where the Packers will host the Detroit Lions.

“I’m very hopeful for that, and I think they’re trending in the right way,” the general manager said. “But we’ll see.”

Both players picked up injuries during the preseason and have missed practice for several weeks. Reed suffered a foot injury, while a partial tear in the meniscus forced Hobbs into surgery this summer.

According to Channel 3000+ News, Reed is dealing with a Jones fracture on the outside of his foot. The wide receiver returned to practice last Wednesday despite nursing the injury. He was also seen wearing a walking boot earlier in August.

Meanwhile, Hobbs aims to return to the field for Week 1’s clash with the Lions after recovering from his knee surgery.

“Mentally, I’m always ready,” Hobbs said. “Mentally, it doesn’t matter what happens. My mental’s going to be ready. As far as the training staff, they’re going to make the right decision. I trust them. If I didn’t trust them, I wouldn’t be here.”

It’s been a busy week for the Packers. On Thursday, the team announced a record-breaking trade and contract for Dallas Cowboys star defensive end Micah Parsons. The 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year will join the Packers on a reported four-year, $188 million contract, leaving Dallas after four seasons.

Jordan Love is undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair a ligament injury to his left thumb, but the Green Bay Packers expect the star quarterback to be ready by the season opener.

Love, who had his left thumb taped during Monday’s practice, tried to play through the injury before ultimately deciding to have the procedure.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said Tuesday that Love could return to practice as early as next week, adding that the procedure was “the best option to him getting back the fastest and feeling the best.”

Gutekunst said Love suffered the injury during Saturday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets. It happened on Love’s last play, when he was sacked by Jets defensive tackle Jay Tufele.

Love played two series in the game. He did not appear to be limited in practice Monday but had to use his right (throwing) hand to hand off on plays where ordinarily he would have used his left.

“Obviously, you guys saw him out there, he certainly was able to function,” Gutekunst said. “But as we looked at all the options and he did as well, the best option I think for him to get back the fastest and feel the best was to do this. He wanted to go out there yesterday to kind of see how it felt, and once we got through that, we made the decision.”

Gutekunst added that Love will be ready for Week 1 against the NFC North rival Detroit Lions on September 7.

“We’ll get him back in plenty of time,” Gutekunst said. “I don’t foresee this affecting him long-term at all.”

The Packers have a joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday before Saturday’s preseason game. The plan going into the preseason was for Love and some starters to practice but not play in the game against the Colts, and then play in the preseason finale against the Seattle Seahawks on August 23.

Gutekunst said Love was expecting to meet the team Wednesday in Indianapolis.

While an injury to Love’s non-throwing hand should not impact the Packers’ passing game, coach Matt LaFleur had other concerns about ways it could hinder his quarterback.

“Well, only if it limits you in your ability to go out there and perform the task at hand – no pun intended there,” LaFleur said Tuesday. “From what I’ve been understanding, that it’s a pretty relatively quick recovery, so hopefully we’ll be able to get him back out in some capacity sometime next week to work on and work through — because I’ve never personally dealt with a situation like this. So there’s going to be some learning curve along the way in terms of how do we adapt and how do we adjust.”

This is the second straight year in which Love has been impacted by an injury. Last season, he sustained a sprained left MCL in the regular-season opener and missed the next two games. Malik Willis started in his place, and the Packers won both games.

The Green Bay Packers failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs after making it to the divisional round in 2023, and star quarterback Jordan Love’s numbers were down from his first season as a starter in several categories. One talking point that is coming out of the 2024 season is whether Love took a step backward from last season.

Neither Love nor the Packers agree with that assessment as head coach Matt LaFleur pointed to the time Love missed with knee and groin injuries as a reason his yards and touchdowns slipped while the star quarterback focused on how the regular season record for the Packers improved from 2023 to 2024 as they finished the 2024 season 11-6 while the Packers finished 9-8 in 2023.

“What is a step back, is what I’d ask,” Love said, via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com. “Everybody has different opinions, things like that. You’ve got to block that stuff out. It’s all about the goals of the team. At the end of the day, I’d say we won more games than we did the year before. So that’s why I ask people, what is a step back? Everybody has opinions and things like that, you try to block that out and just focus on doing me, being the best player I can be and go forward. At the end of the day, personal stats and things like that, that’s all in the back. You’ve got to focus on goals of the team first and foremost.”

Love’s passer rating and yards per attempt were higher in 2024 than in 2023. He didn’t throw an interception in the final seven games of the regular season, which helps push back the narrative of regression. More of the same in 2025, along with a record that lifts the Packers higher than the seventh seed in the NFC, should put the conversation to rest.

The Packers will open up the regular season at home against the Detroit Lions.

Following his departure from the Las Vegas Raiders at the end of the 2023 season, running back Josh Jacobs has been clear about his problems with the team. Jacobs revealed some details in an interview earlier this year, but was even more explicit about the breakdown of his relationship with the Raiders as a guest on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.

“It gets to a certain point, you’re not going to keep disrespecting me,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs was drafted by the Raiders 24th overall in 2019 and spent the first five years of his career with Las Vegas. He put up 5,545 yards and 46 touchdowns in those five years, making the Pro Bowl twice and being named first-team All-Pro once, in 2022. But when contract negotiations came up, Jacobs claimed, the Raiders didn’t want to pay up.

“I was legitimately 65% of the offense that year, and you telling me you will not pay the guy that did everything for the team,” Jacobs said. “How does that make sense? … It really hurt my heart because I tried to stay. I did everything in my power to stay.”

Jacobs had built a house in Las Vegas and planned to call it home for the rest of his career. But he felt scorned by what he claimed was a lowball, $10 million per year deal without incentives or the benefit of term. He ended up signing with the Green Bay Packers at $48 million over four years, with millions in roster and signing bonuses built in.

Jacobs has discussed the negotiations before. This time, though, he took aim at the Raiders as an organization – their coaching carousel and one particular “decision-maker” he declined to name.

“I’m not going to say who it was, but it’s a guy that make decisions,” Jacobs said. “He’s talking too much and thinking it’s not going to get back to me and everything is getting back to me… He’s basically like ‘[Josh] needs the money.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t need no money. I could quit playing right now. I’m great.’”

“So I’m like, ‘Where are you getting this information from? Why do you think that you got the leverage when I just led the NFL in everything there is for a running back?’”

And that’s what it boils down to, on Jacobs’ end: the feeling of disrespect.

“You’re bringing in these coaches every other year, new coaches, and now, these new coaches is telling me I didn’t already have three 1,000-yard seasons. You telling me I have to prove myself like I’m a rookie, you treating me like a rookie… Then afterwards you’re basically like, ‘Yeah, you played good, but we’re going to franchise tag you.’”

Jacobs posted 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 for the Packers, who finished 11-6 and made the playoffs. The Raiders, who finished 4-13, had the lowest rushing yards per game in the NFL.

Las Vegas brought in a new head coach and general manager this offseason, and will be looking to hit it big on another drafted running back: Ashton Jeanty.

Aaron Rodgers‘ career is coming close to an end, but he is not retiring from the NFL yet. There is a strong chance, when he decides to retire, he will end up retiring as a member of the Green Bay Packers, but it is not set in stone.

During an interview on the YNK podcast with Mike Stud, the four-time NFL MVP was asked if he was planning to retire as a Packer once his career is over.

“I’ve thought about that, but I don’t understand what the reason for that is,” Rodgers said. “At the same time, I grew up a [49ers] fan and most of my favorite players retired as a Niner. Jerry Rice, who went to three other teams, came back and retired as a Niner, so I understand the cool thing about it, but if I didn’t do it, would that make a difference in how I’m viewed in the Packers’ eyes?”

Signing a one-day contract to retire with a team is mostly a symbolic gesture, which might be the reason why Rodgers doesn’t sound overly excited about possibly going through that in Green Bay. The reason why he could do it is to mend things with the Packers.

Rodgers and the Packers went through a bitter divorce that officially ended in April 2023 when he was traded to the New York Jets in a deal that ended Rodgers’ 18-year run in Green Bay that included a Super Bowl 45 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In 2022, Rodgers had said that he would “definitely” retire as a Packers player as long as the team didn’t trade him, but then he got traded. Rodgers said he would be willing to retire a Packer under one condition: If the team “approached” him, he’d be all for it.

“There’s a lot of love for me and how I feel about the team,” Rodgers said. “If I do or I don’t [retire as a Packer], I don’t think it should make a difference, I’m not sure yet. If they approached me about it, I probably would.”

Rodgers is still currently a free agent.

The long-awaited vote on whether to ban the tush push happened on Wednesday after several months of discussion and debate.

The vote did not pass, which allows teams to still use the tush push play for the 2025 season.

For votes to be passed at the NFL owners’ meeting, a 75% majority of owners needs to pass new rule proposals. Twenty-two teams voted in favor of the ban, while 10 teams voted against banning the tush push. The ban proposed by the Green Bay Packers earlier in the year was two votes short of passing.

The Packers have been vocal in their dislike of the tush push play following their loss to the Eagles in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Packers CEO Mark Murphy wrote on the Packers website before the Eagles’ Super Bowl win against the Kansas City Chiefs. “I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner (QB) on this play. There used to be a rule prohibiting this, but it is no longer enforced because I believe it was thought to be too hard for the officials to see. The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak. That worked pretty well for Bart Starr and the Packers in the Ice Bowl.”

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie brought former Eagles center Jason Kelce to the NFL owners meeting to try to keep the tush push play alive.

“I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking of this play,” Kelce said on his podcast with his brother, Travis Kelce. “I don’t care whether it gets banned or not. At the end of the day, this is why you vote on things. If they vote to ban the ‘Tush Push,’ the Eagles are still gonna run quarterback sneak at a very high percentage.”

Mecole Hardman has signed a one-year deal with the Green Bay Packers.

Hardman will help to fill the void the Packers will have until Christian Watson recovers from his torn ACL.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said the team is preparing to begin the 2025 season without Watson, who was injured in the final game of the regular season.

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Hardman has played the majority of his six-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs after being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft.

In 2024, Hardman appeared in 12 games for the Chiefs, recording 12 receptions for 90 yards with no touchdowns, along with five rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown.

As a rookie in 2019, Hardman earned a Pro Bowl selection for his kick return skills, highlighted by a 26.1-yard average and a 104-yard touchdown.

Hardman also spent part of the 2023 season with the New York Jets, playing in four games after signing as a free agent.

It’s the play that the Philadelphia Eagles have perfected over the past couple of seasons. The one with which Jalen Hurts scored the first touchdown in their Super Bowl LIX victory. The one that failed the Buffalo Bills in the do-or-die last drive of their AFC Championship. It has many names – the Brotherly Shove, or more commonly, the Tush Push. And now it may be banned in the NFL.

The NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, announced Monday that a team had submitted a rules proposal to ban the tush push. On Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers took ownership of the proposal.

“I know we’re not very successful against it, I know that,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on the topic at the NFL Combine.

“We do have a club playing-rule proposal around the tush push. It’s the way they deemed it, the tush push. … It’s on our agenda. The club proposal is, ‘We need to make some adjustments to that. Is that a viable football play?'”

The play has achieved the most scrutiny at the hands of the Eagles and the Bills, largely because they have been so successful when using it. The rest of the NFL has a 71% success rate when using the tush push, compared to 87% for the Eagles and Bills. The Packers’ specific ire at the play seems to stem from their playoff elimination by the Eagles, following which president and CEO Mark Murphy took to the Packers website to call for its elimination.

“There is no skill involved, and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy wrote. “I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run.”

In response to the proposal, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni called the idea that the tush push is automatic “a little insulting.”

“The fact that it’s [portrayed] as an automatic thing, we work really hard, and our guys are talented at this play, and so it’s a little insulting to say we’re good at it so it’s automatic. We work really hard at it.”

The heaviest argument for a tush push ban, though, is in the likelihood of injury, which has incurred concern from many observers, including Bills head coach Sean McDermott. Despite his team’s success with the play over the past year, Buffalo has run the play barely half the number of times as the Eagles.

“To me, there’s always been an injury risk with that play, and I’ve expressed that opinion for the last couple of years or so when it really started to come into play the way it’s being used, especially a year ago,” said McDermott. “So, I just feel like, player safety and the health and safety of our players has to be at the top of our game, which it is. It’s just that play to me has always been … or the way that the techniques that are used with that play, to me have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players. And so again, you have to go back though in fairness to the injury data on the play, but I just think the optics of it, I’m not in love with.”

He went on to discuss how the Bills try to minimize player risk in their tush push, noting that “one team in particular” exerted a lot of force upon the quarterback.

Sirianni rejected that notion as well, calling it “a little made up.”

“Now, the numbers will tell the truth,” he said, “but I don’t think there was many injuries with it this year. I can’t remember one injury we had on that play, and we ran it more that everybody else. Just because it’s a successful play for us doesn’t mean that it should go away.”

NFL owners could vote on the controversial proposal next month at the annual league meeting. If examined, the measure would require the assent of 24 of 32 owners.

2023 marked the beginning of a new era in Green Bay, as long-time quarterback Aaron Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets in April 2023. Rodgers did a lot for the Pack, winning Super Bowl 45 and taking them to five NFC Championship games—he won four MVPs during his tenure in Green Bay.

Jordan Love took over for A-rod since he sat behind Rodgers for three seasons. As expected, the Packers struggled without Rodgers, starting the season 3-6. However, a second-half surge propelled Green Bay to the playoffs with a 9-8 record. They prevailed over the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the wildcard but fell to the 49ers in the second round 21-24. Love threw for 4,159 yards while completing 64.2 percent of passes.

This offseason saw pro-offensive tackle David Bakhtiari get released after 11 seasons while Aaron Jones left for the Minnesota Vikings. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell departed for the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers signed Josh Jacobs to replace Jones while bringing in safety Xavier McKinney to counter Darnell Savage’s exit.

Tackle Jordan Morgan was picked at 25, hoping to fill Bakhtiari’s void. Morgan allowed only two sacks in 454 pass-blocking plays in 2023. Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper got selected to boost a thin linebacker room after Campbell’s release. Cooper is a pro at stopping the run, as running backs averaged 2.5 yards a carry when he tackles. Safety Javon Bullard provides insurance at safety, complementing the newly acquired McKinney.

Green Bay’s 2024 schedule will be very tough, as it is the fourth toughest in the NFL. Other notable games include the Rams, Texans, Jaguars, 49ers, and Dolphins, as well as two meetings each with the Vikings, Bears and Lions.

It won’t be easy for the Packers to compete due to their strength of schedule. However, the Packers addressed their biggest needs in the offseason while adding Jacobs to bolster the running attack. If Love plays well and the defense locks in, Green Bay can be a competitor in the NFC.

GREEN BAY PACKERS SCHEDULE & TICKET DEALS

• Week 1: at Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 6, 8:15 p.m. ET (Peacock)
• Week 2: vs. Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 3: at Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Sept. 22, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 4: vs. Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 29, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
• Week 5: at Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Oct. 6, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• Week 6: vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 13, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 7: vs. Houston Texans, Sunday, Oct. 20, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
• Week 8: at Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Oct. 27, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 9: vs. Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 3, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 10: BYE
• Week 11: at Chicago Bears, Sunday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 12: vs. San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Nov. 24, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 13: vs. Miami Dolphins, Thursday, Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving), 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• Week 14: at Detroit Lions, Thursday, Dec. 5, 8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)*
• Week 15: at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Dec. 15, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)*
• Week 16: vs. New Orleans Saints, Monday, Dec. 23, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)*
• Week 17: at Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Dec. 29, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 18: vs. Chicago Bears, Sunday, Jan. 5

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Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love will skip training camp until he receives a new contract from the team. Love is going into the last year of his rookie deal, and after starting for only one season, he and the team believe that he warrants a hefty raise.

Green Bay’s general manager, Brian Gutekunst, met with the local media on Monday and told them he knew in advance of Love’s absence but thought the deal was imminent.

“Yeah, I think so,” Gutekunst responded when asked if he felt the sides were close. But again, you never know. We’re working really hard to get (the extension) done. At the same time, the thing I have confidence in is that we both want the same thing.”

Love looks to cash in after a breakout season as a starting QB for the first last season. The Packers struggled out of the gate but turned around a 2-5 season into a Wild Card berth, where they dispatched the Cowboys on the road. That playoff win cemented Love’s status as a top quarterback in the league, even after needing to sit behind Aaron Rodgers for the first three years of his career. The Utah State and former first-round pick threw for 4,159 passing yards and 32 touchdowns in 2023.

The quarterback market exploded this off-season after Trevor Lawrance’s five-year $275 million deal that ties him with Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow for the highest yearly salary in the NFL at $55 million. Experts around the league Love can break the $50 million threshold with the rising salary cap and money handed out to quarterbacks, even with his limited profile.

The Packers further cemented their investment in Love with their off-season transactions. The team used their 1st round pick on offensive tackle Jordan Morgan out of Arizona to protect Love’s blindside. They also signed former Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs in free agency to give him an upgrade over former RB Aaron Jones.

Green Bay’s head coach, Matt LaFleur, came into the offseason assuming that running back Aaron Jones would still be on his roster. However, the Packers decided to cut Jones and sign former Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs as his replacement.

“It kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “There were some other things in play, obviously with Aaron Jones, and I didn’t quite know how everything was going to go. It just happened really fast on that Monday.”

Green Bay attempted to resign Jones to a lower salary than last year but made no gains. Jones instead chose to sign a one-year $7 million deal with the division rival Minnesota Vikings. In his place, the Packers signed Jacobs to a four-year $48 million contract, making him the sixth-highest-paid rusher in the league.

“We’re working toward that solution, but sometimes things just don’t work out,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said about releasing Jones. “I don’t blame him. He’s always done right by us. It was one of those tough moments.”

The Packers drafted Jones in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He only started 12 games in his first two seasons but became the team’s first option in 2019 once LaFleur took over as head coach. In the past five seasons with LaFleur, Jones went on to start in every game he played while rushing for an average of 952 yards and five total touchdowns per season. He scored a career-high 16 rushing touchdowns in 2019 and had at least three seasons with 1,000+ rushing yards, while Green Bay made the playoffs all but one of those years.

On the most recent episode of the podcast This is Football, LeFleur was asked about some of the toughest players he ever coached. In his response, LeFleur recalled when Jones suffered an MCL sprain against the Chargers earlier in the year and his ability to return.

“Aaron Jones is a bad—football player. For a guy that’s 190 pounds, it’s just the beating that the runners take in general. I mean, it’s like a car crash every time they get tackled,” LaFleur said.” I still don’t know how he didn’t get severely injured on that play. His ability to come back later in the year and what he could do, I would say that was pretty bad—.”

Due to the injury, Jones only appeared in 11 games for the Packers in 2023, finishing with nearly career-low numbers of 656 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Following the down year, the Packers looked to move on as they now bring in Jacobs from Las Vegas.

Jacobs was the league’s leading rusher in 2022 with 1653 yards, a few years younger than the 29-year-old Jones. In his five-year career, compared to Jones’ seven, Jacobs has scored more rushing touchdowns in 24 fewer games while averaging 15 more yards per game.

“I just think when you look at his body of work, his play style, his running style, he’ll excel [in all situations],” LaFleur said about Jacobs. “There are some things we can do in the pass game as well, get him out in the backfield.”

The importance of running backs in the NFL continues to sway, but at $12 million a year, the Packers have high hopes for their new starter.

Even after an unexpected playoff run to the NFC divisional round and a close exit at the hands of the Super-Bowl-contending San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers fired Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry last week.

News of this decision came out just two days after Packers head coach Matt LaFleur declined questions on Barry’s status with the team, as he “was going to go through the process at my own pace.”

“We want to thank Joe for his commitment and contributions to our success the past three seasons,” LaFleur said in a statement. “These decisions are extremely difficult and Joe is one of the best men I’ve had the opportunity to work with in this league.”

The Packers only clinched a playoff spot in the last week of the season, and almost no one expected them to get past the Dallas Cowboys in the wildcard round. Green Bay did great to get that far, but if any part of their team needed improving, it was the run defense.

Green Bay ranked 28th in the league against the run in 2023 and gave up over 200 rushing yards in four games during the season. The defense finished 17th in the league collectively, and they managed to place in the top ten for the fewest points allowed. The defense under Barry hasn’t been great, but not terrible either.

According to reports, it is possible that Barry could remain in the Green Bay coaching staff, but his replacement as defensive coordinator is still undetermined.

Before Barry was hired in 2021, LaFleur was considering hiring Jim Leonhard, Ejiro Evero, Chris Harris, Ryan Nielsen, Chris Kiffin, Matt Burke, Bob Sutton and Jerry Gray. Before Barry, Leonhard was thought to be the first choice to replace Mike Pettine, but he opted to stay at his alma mater in Wisconsin. Evero has been interviewing for several head coaching jobs since the end of the regular season and Nielsen was just hired as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator.

LaFleur will hope that whoever he hires to replace Barry can shore up that run defense to coincide with a promising young offense led by an emerging star at quarterback in Jordan Love, and take them on another unlikely playoff run with current expectations for Packers fans.

Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander said Wednesday that he did not expect the team to suspend him for his coin-flip mistake against the Panthers in Week 16. Alexander returned to practice this week and should appear in some capacity for Green Bay this weekend.

“Yeah, I was surprised by the suspension,” Alexander said Wednesday, according to ESPN, after his first practice since the suspension. “I thought maybe I’d get fined.”

Alexander was suspended for one game by the team after going out for the opening coin toss against the Panthers. Green Bay’s captains are usually the only ones who go out for the toss. The cornerback misspoke after the Packers won the flip and nearly awarded Carolina with the right to receive for both halves.

Though Alexander did not see the suspension coming, he told reporters that it was productive and improved his relationship with the team. The star defender, who has been hampered by injuries in the 2023 season, described the suspension as a good step forward.

“Yeah, I think it was definitely something to learn from,” Alexander said. “There’s definitely things that I could have improved upon during that week to help with communication. Moving forward, that won’t happen again.”

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur did not say whether Alexander would start in Week 18 against the Chicago Bears but did say that it was good to have Alexander back. Green Bay has multiple paths to the playoffs but all of them, involve a win over Chicago, making it more than likely that Alexander will play if he is prepared and healthy.

Without Alexander in Week 17, the Packers dismantled the Minnesota Vikings 33-10 on Sunday Night Football to keep their postseason hopes alive. The team is trending in the right direction as playoffs approach, with quarterback Jordan Love resembling a rising star in the back half of his sophomore campaign.

The Green Bay Packers have issued a one-game suspension to cornerback Jaire Alexander for “detrimental” conduct. Though there are conflicting reports about the nature of Alexander’s suspension, there is a clear inciting incident.

Alexander walked out for the coin flip before the team’s game against the Panthers last weekend. The honor is usually reserved for team captains.

After Green Bay won the coin flip, the cornerback mistakenly said that the team wished to defend, rather than defer. If the referee hadn’t asked for clarification, the Panthers could have received the kickoff in both halves. Green Bay went on to win 33-30 in a game that came down to the final play.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst issued a statement Wednesday to clarify the team’s reasoning for suspending the star defender.

“The decision to suspend a player is never easy and not one we take lightly. Unfortunately, Jaire’s actions prior to the game in Carolina led us to take this step,” Gutekunst said. “As an organization, we have an expectation that everyone puts the team first. While we are disappointed, we had a good conversation with Jaire this morning and fully expect him to learn from this as we move forward together. We look forward to welcoming him back next week as he is a valued member of this team and will continue to be in the future.”

After the game, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur called Alexander’s coin toss involvement “a big mistake.” But in a press conference Thursday, LaFleur said that Alexander was not solely suspended over the coin toss incident. This seems to conflict with Gutekunst’s statement.

“I’ll just say this: It’s never for one thing,” LaFleur said. “I think there’s a lot of lessons along the way from everybody involved and hopefully we learn from them, and I think we will. I think there will probably be better communication moving forward. I think Ja is going to be here a long time. He’s a hell of a player and just looking to move past this and learn from it, and we’ll all move forward and be better for it.”

Though the Packers are currently 7-8 and unlikely to make the playoffs, a loss to the lowly Panthers could have ended their season on the spot.

In order to reach the postseason, the Packers will have to win games against the Vikings and Bears to wrap up the regular season. Even then, they will need several teams ahead of them to lose key games to have a chance.

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones suffered an MCL sprain in Week 11 against the Chargers and is unlikely to play on Thanksgiving. Back-up AJ Dillon is also nursing an injury but will reportedly be available.

“If it was my ACL, then I’m done for the season,” Jones told The Athletic after the game. “I put in a lot of work and time in here with these guys, it felt like, ‘Man, I can’t catch a break,’ but I caught a break. I hope it’s not anything serious, and I’ll be back here.”

Though Jones’ injury will not end his season, it could be a persisting issue for him as the regular season comes to a close. The Packers are slowly fading away from the playoff picture already, but any long-term absence for Jones could eliminate any remaining chance they have.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that Jones’ injury was not serious, meaning that he did not expect him to miss significant time. He did admit to being concerned, however, noting that it “did not look good” after Jones was carted off the field.

With Jones out, Dillon is the natural starter and received 14 carries with Jones out last weekend. He has been able to play through a groin injury for several weeks and logged a limited practice Thursday. Third-string running back Emanuel Wilson is also injured and is not trending in the right direction.

This leaves running back Patrick Taylor as the only other option to play behind Dillon. Taylor signed with the team off of the Patriots’ practice squad Monday. He was a member of the Packers in 2021 and 2022, participating in 24 games.

“You gotta be ready for your opportunity,” Taylor said after signing. “I’m a smart guy. I’ve been in this offense for four years, so it’s not really hard for me to just pick it right back up. I think they’re running the same general stuff that they were before I left, so it’s pretty easy for me to pick it up.”

Outside linebacker Rashan Gary has signed a four-year, $107 million contract extension with the Green Bay Packers. 

The new deal guarantees Gary $96 million in new money, including a signing bonus of over $34 million.

Prior to the extension, the Packers picked up the fifth-year option through 2023 with Gary despite a torn ACL injury in Week 9

A first-round pick in 2019, Gary broke out in the 2021 season as a full-time starter with 9.5 sacks while adding 47 tackles. Through his first seven games in the 2023 season, he has 4.5 sacks and five tackles for loss. Overall, Gary has 27 sacks in 63 career games. With the signing of Gary, Green Bay has locked down a key defensive player for the long term. 

Last year, Gary said that a big contract for the Packers would be one of his goals. 

“That would be my dream. That would be my dream. But I’ve got to keep my head down and work and not look too far ahead or all this talk is just talk,” Gary said.

Several NFL defensive players have signed massive contracts. San Francisco 49ers’s Nick Bosa signed a five-year, $170 million extension which made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. With this new contract, Bosa will make $34 million per year.

Gary is now fifth among edge rushes in total earnings per year. The contract puts him behind Bosa and T.J. Watt ($28.15 million), Joey Bosa ($27 million) and Myles Garrett ($25 million).

Gary is just below Garrett at $24 million.

During the Denver Broncos’ 19-17 win against the Green Bay Packers, safety Kareem Jackson was ejected from the match.  

With 13 minutes and 49 seconds left, Jackson was ejected for a sideline hit against tight end Luke Musgave.

Musgave caught an 18-yard pass from Jordan Love with linebacker Alex Singleton closing it, Jackson then knocked Musgave to the turf, appearing to use the crown of his helmet after two flags were thrown.

Referee Alex Kemp announced that Jackson had been ejected.

This is the second time Jackson has been ejected from a game this season, as he was ejected during a Week 2 loss to the Washington Commanders.

He has also been fined four times for a total of $89,670. 

Several of his teammates have commented on the ejection.

“It’s tough…From what I heard, it was a bang-bang play,” cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “Football is a physical game whether you like it or not. It’s just unfortunate. Kareem is a tremendous player. He doesn’t do things intentionally…It would be a big blow, obviously, to lose a guy like Kareem.”

Broncos coach Sean Payton believes that Jackson’s prior disciplinary issues contributed to the ejection.

“I think it’s difficult to make these calls sometimes,” he said. “I think what’s difficult for Kareem is he’s got some priors. You get pulled over and you’ve had four or five speeding violations, you’re going to spend a little bit more time on the side of the road than if you didn’t have any.”

The Broncos (2-5) will host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.