The best thing Aaron Rodgers could do this offseason is to sign a one-day contract with his former team in the Green Bay Packers and just retire. This sentimental gesture could help him get back in good graces with the franchise that drafted him out of Cal way back in 2005. He will be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer as soon as he hangs up the spikes. He seems to be open to the idea of it.
Rodgers revealed during an interview with Mike Stud on the YNK podcast that signing a one-day contract with the Packers is probably want he wants to do in the end. He may have said before that he would likely end up doing it, so long as he was never traded. Well, he was traded to the New York Jets over the 2023 NFL offseason. But after two bad years in New York, Rodgers may have had a change of heart.
Rodgers' point on his favorite San Francisco 49ers players from childhood doing the same did resonate.
"I've thought about that, but I don't understand what the reason for that is. 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?"
Rodgers finished by saying that it would be cool to retire as a Packer, but it has to be mutual.
"There's a lot of love for me and how I feel about the team. 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."
Here is the entire episode on YouTube from the YNK podcast where Rodgers talked about Green Bay.
Here is why I would sign a one-day contract and retire from football this offseason if I was Rodgers.
Why Aaron Rodgers should retire as a member of the Green Bay Packers
The best thing any professional athlete can do on the way out and into retirement is to maintain close ties to at least one of the teams you played for. Some players have memorable careers with multiple teams. It makes it easier for them to always find a home away from home once they do hang up the spikes. Rodgers' time in New York will not afford him that option with the Jets, only with the Packers.
Rodgers' former Packers teammate Brett Favre had a fractured relationship with Green Bay as well. Yes, he played for three other franchises, but Green Bay is the one that we all remember him with. Whether Rodgers decides to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers or not, in time nobody is going to remember him playing for Mike Tomlin. All of our best memories of Rodgers happened in Green Bay.
When it comes time for Rodgers to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it would be in all parties' best interest for them to get along, or at least be cordial. There is plenty of time for fences to be mended between now and then. Seeing Rodgers retire with the Packers would tie a bow on a storied career, one with so much greatness and so much promise. It would be a fitting end to it all.
Rodgers has a legacy to protect, which is why playing for the Steelers is only going to damage it.