Beef timeline: Rodgers vs. Packers, Gutekunst et al.

Aaron Rodgers vs. Packers, Gutekunst, et al.

Nature of the beef: Occupational abandonment

Severity of grudge: Blood feud

Inciting incident: On April 23, 2020, the Green Bay Packers chose Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick in the first round. The Packers traded a fourth-round pick to move up four spots from No. 30 to take him.

“I wasn’t elated by the pick,” Rodgers said in July 2020, “especially being one game away from the Super Bowl and feeling like we’re a couple of players away. But at the same time I understand it’s a business. I know that’s a reality.”

2020 -- Packers go 13-3 for second straight year, Aaron Rodgers is the MVP, he threw for 4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns and was intercepted four times. Jordan Love attempted four passes all season. The Packers lost to the Bucs 31-26 in the NFC Championship Game.

The Athletic reported this week that early in the 2021 offseason, Rodgers’ agent David Dunn called the Packers to request they either fire Gutekunst or trade Rodgers.

April 29, 2021 – Adam Schefter reported Rodgers was unhappy with the organization.

I don’t know who Schefter’s source was. I do know who this benefited, though: Rodgers. That’s because Schefter’s report came on the day the NFL’s draft was set to begin, which meant that it not only overshadowed anyone the Packers chose in the draft, but it meant Gutekunst would have to answer questions from reporters regarding Rodgers on Thursday, Friday and again on Saturday.

July 27, 2021 – Rodgers arrived at training camp, ending any speculation he might hold out. In his first press conference, he spent 17 minutes ticking off all of the objections he had against the Packers front office starting with what he told team officials early in the offseason.

“I just expressed a desire to be more involved in conversations directly affecting my job,” he said.

Nothing really changed.

“We got into March,” Rodgers said, “and the conversation changed as I felt like if you can’t commit to me past 2021 and I’m not a part of (the) recruiting process in free agency, if I’m not a part of the future, then instead of letting me be a lame-duck quarterback, if you want to make a change and move forward, then go ahead and do it. That obviously didn’t happen.”

2021 – The Packers went 13-4, Rodgers won his second straight MVP, passing for 4,115 yards and 37 touchdowns while being intercepted four times. He tested positive for COVID in Week 9, Jordan Love starting in his place. Love completed 19 of 34 passes for 190 yards against Kansas City. Five rushes for 23 yards. The Packers lose that game 13-7.

Green Bay lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, beaten 13-10 by the 49ers.

March 15, 2022 – Rodgers signed a three-year contract extension with the Packers, and everyone makes a big deal about how this means they’ve come through the other side of all the unrest.

2022 -- The Packers flamed out in the middle of the season, losing five straight and seven of eight games. They rallied and had a chance to make the playoffs by beating Detroit in the night cap of the final day of the regular season only to lose 20-16.

Feb. 7, 2023 – Aaron Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” he planned to have a decision about whether he would continue playing football after participating in something he referred to as a darkness retreat.

Feb. 17, 2023 – Bob McGinn, a long-time Packers reporter, says the team is fed up with Rodgers and will be moving on. McGinn said this on a podcast, “Going Long,” and it was a reporter’s informed conclusion based on discussions with people in the organization as opposed to a formal statement from the team.

Feb. 23, 2023 – Rodgers’ stay at the Sky Cave Retreats in southern Oregon ends, according to the owner of the facility.

March 15, 2023 – Rodgers tells McAfee he intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

March 28, 2023 – Packers GM Brian Gutekunst answered questions about Rodgers’s desire to be traded. He said he tried to reach Rodgers “many times” and that it “would have been nice” to speak directly with Rodgers. “I think I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron to see how he fit into that. Those never transpired.”

April 24, 2023 – Rodgers is traded to the Jets. The Packers moved up two spots in the first round, from No. 15 to No. 13. They also received a second-round pick and a sixth-round pick this year. The Jets moved back to No. 15 and received a fifth-round pick this year. Additionally, the Packers get a second-round pick from the Jets in next year’s draft with the caveat that pick upgrades to a first-round choice if Rodgers plays more than 65 percent of New York’s snaps this season.