Insider Updates: Aaron Rodgers' NFL Future Uncertain

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00:00All right, welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid.

00:02Our SportsGrid insider, Adam Kaplan, is with us, joins us once a week in the offseason.

00:07And, folks, we are halfway done.

00:09The NFL season is right around the corner.

00:12July, camps start opening up.

00:14It feels like we got a month until things really get hot.

00:16Let's bring in Adam Kaplan for the one story that is easily the most annoying in the NFL,

00:22but it is the one story that hasn't been resolved in the NFL.

00:26And I promise, folks, we will not do the story again next week.

00:30If there is no update, we will not do Aaron Rodgers.

00:34I do want to ask about a couple of quarterbacks with you here, Adam.

00:38But first, let's get to this.

00:39Okay, so let me give credit where credit is due.

00:42YNK Podcast is where Aaron Rodgers appeared.

00:45It was like an outdoor format of some kind.

00:48Was asked a lot of questions, was very noncommittal on anything,

00:51but gave a major hint, I thought, in this by saying that he was not going to play for Chicago,

00:58but said that there's a team out there that has Chicago on their schedule.

01:02I mean, come on, Adam.

01:03I mean, he's going to play for the Steelers, right?

01:05I mean, wasn't that the dead giveaway at this point?

01:08Yeah, Craig, here's the real story.

01:10So the reason why the Steelers keep saying they're going to wait for him is because they know

01:13he needs more time because he's dealing with a personal issue with someone close to him,

01:19which he said, he's been on the record saying that, but he's not going into it,

01:23and we understand that.

01:24You've got to respect his privacy.

01:26But he sounds like he wants to play, and that's the impression that they have,

01:31is that he wants to play.

01:32And I could tell you, from looking into the situation for months and weeks and recent weeks

01:37and talking to Steelers people, they're pretty confident he's going to play.

01:40Now, I would warn people, though, if he shocks them, or surprises them is probably a better word,

01:46if he surprises them, well, what's their recourse?

01:48What can they do here?

01:49Well, you've got Mason Rudolph, right?

01:51Who's a journeyman quarterback who did play very well, as they will point out,

01:54as they pointed out to me a couple years ago, but that was on a part-time basis.

01:59And then they would have to look into the veteran market, and they would do that.

02:01They would look potentially towards Kirk Cousins and any potential veteran who would be available.

02:07But Mason Rudolph is a guy that they like.

02:09They drafted him.

02:10He's played in different systems.

02:12He knows what they're doing here.

02:14They know they're going to be a run-based offense.

02:16They're not going to put all in the quarterback, not even close to being all in the quarterback.

02:19You know it's about running the ball in Pittsburgh and playing defense.

02:22But you've got to throw it at some point.

02:24And asking Mason Rudolph, Craig, to be a full-time starter, 17 games plus playoffs, good luck.

02:32Yeah.

02:32No, I don't think that's going to be the case.

02:34You know, I want to expand this conversation to ask you just something sort of, you know, off the beaten path here.

02:42Because, you know, I just watched the Brett Favre documentary, which, you know, outside of the off-the-field stuff,

02:48it feels like Favre and Rodgers are kind of like doing the same thing, ironically, at the end of their careers here,

02:53which is being a little bit nomadic.

02:55Like, are you a believer, Adam, in this whole idea that we bring up in legacy, like, what players' legacy becomes

03:04if at the end of their career they're mixing it up and going around different places?

03:08I know there are a lot of social media accounts that show, you know, different players in uniforms you never remember playing with.

03:15I mean, personally for me, Adam, I think that we talk about it way too much.

03:19I really don't think that this is a thing.

03:21Like, yes, I remember that Emmitt Smith played with Arizona, but I don't think that that affected him or hurt him

03:27or Jerry Rice playing with Seattle or Denver or one of those teams at the end.

03:31Does it really?

03:33No.

03:33As a matter of fact, sometimes it's the reverse, where a player needs to find another home to revive his career

03:39and potentially be a Hall of Famer, like Kurt Warner.

03:42We all thought he was done.

03:43Those of us who were coming to the league then with the Giants, and I would not have put him in the Hall of Fame then.

03:48I'll be honest with you.

03:49I do vote for the Pro Football Writers Association, but the Hall of Fame voters, if I had one,

03:54I would not have voted for Kurt Warner until he went to Arizona, and he was phenomenal.

03:58And that's one you never know.

04:00But, yeah, like, for instance, I'm old enough to remember Willie Mays when he ended his career with the Mets.

04:04I mean, he was fumbling around, falling to his knees.

04:07He couldn't move anymore.

04:08But I knew he was a great player.

04:10You're right.

04:10I wasn't going to let it cloud my judgment as a fan or legacy.

04:14See, it's what you've done for the totality of your career, for the majority of it, quite frankly.

04:19Then you go from there.

04:20So you make a fair point.

04:22We obviously know Aaron Rodgers is the first Ballot Hall of Famer.

04:25Look, he made a decision.

04:27He could have retired like John Elway, right?

04:28John Elway retired after his last Super Bowl in his late 30s.

04:32Not because of his knees weren't good.

04:34That's why he retired.

04:35If Rodgers thinks he's healthy enough, I'm told he had two pretty significant injuries, which he played through.

04:40Hamstring strain and a sprained knee last season.

04:42I give the guy credit.

04:44But, Craig, father time catches up to all of us.

04:47We know that.

04:48When you're an athlete, man, sold in tennis with my favorite tennis player ever, Roger Federer, his knees were bad.

04:55Arafa with his foot.

04:56I mean, it just – this is what happens.

04:57You can't play forever.

04:59Rodgers is 41 and a half.

05:00Let's not forget that.

05:02Yeah, I agree.

05:03And, listen, Peyton Manning had a fantastic second-half career, and then it crashed and ended.

05:09And maybe that's the case for Aaron Rodgers, but it does feel like he's going to give this one more season.

05:14Adam, great stuff.

05:15I know we only focus on one topic here.

05:16We'll do better next week.

05:17Thanks again for coming on.

05:18I appreciate it.

05:18All good, man.

05:19All good.

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