When Aaron Rodgers agreed to return to play for the Packers late last month under the condition that Green Bay would “reviewing” his situation at the end of this season to see if it was tenable moving forward, many comparisons were made with Michael Jordan returning to play for the Bulls for his final NBA season with Chicago, a championship season that was immortalized in The Last Dance.
Rodgers, along with star receiver Davante Adams, acknowledged the parallels on social media prior to the 37-year-old quarterback agreeing to return to Green Bay.
Now, with the start of what could be Rodgers’s final season in Green Bay just weeks away, he’s once again leaning into The Last Dance narrative.
“I think we all know what’s at stake,” Rodgers said, per ProFootballTalk. “I talked about that a little bit the other day about perspective and how important that perspective is to focus on this season and enjoy the most out of this season, because there are a lot of unknowns. They jumped through some hoops to get under the cap this year. Obviously, the cap is expected to go back up next year but you never know. So we’re just going to enjoy this season. It’s Title Town. It’s championship or disappointment.”
With the Packers currently slated to be dead last in the NFL in available cap space for 2022, that’s really not much of an exaggeration and is probably a good mindset for Rodgers and the rest of his teammates to have. Even if Rodgers somehow returns to the Packers for the 2022-23 season, Green Bay’s front office will likely not be able to retain some of the core pieces of this year’s team due to salary cap restrictions. Like Jordan’s Bulls, the Packers will have to go for it this season and Rodgers will have to lead them. Unless he decides to host Jeopardy! instead.
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