Aaron Rodgers Trade Rumors: 'Running Joke' in NFL Is NFC North Teams Should Help Deal

Aaron Rodgers has been making the lives of NFC North teams a nightmare for the last decade. Given the chance to help smooth things along and get him out of the division, NFC North teams would likely gladly send draft picks to a team to help them trade for Rodgers.

However, that's not allowed by NFL rules.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter on Sunday there's been a "running joke" about teams using their picks to spur a Rodgers exit:

"Look at this record for Rodgers against the NFC North. The running joke among people I talk to is that the NFC North teams, Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, they should chip in draft picks to get Aaron Rodgers up out of there to another team so they could start winning more games. He's winning 70-plus percent of his games against these teams. And so, I actually checked in on this, it's not really possible because any team making a deal would have to give or receive nominal value in return. So, you gotta get picks or a player. So, if you're the Vikings, you can't just give draft picks away and then get a guy out of your division. But it is sort of a running joke, and I think teams probably wouldn't complain if that was the case."

While there could be a potential workaround here—NFC North teams could theoretically send draft picks to the team that trades for Rodgers in exchange for a low-level practice squad player—that would constitute collusion and result in the NFL likely blocking those deals and punishing the offending teams.

That said, the idea of colluding to get Rodgers out of the division is sound. The reigning NFL MVP has a 126-63-1 record as a starter, and the Packers have won the NFC North in seven of the past 10 seasons. 

Jordan Love could wind up being an excellent replacement for Rodgers, but it's unlikely he's a generational superstar who ranks among the five most talented players to ever play quarterback.

We will just unfortunately never know how much NFC North teams would be willing to pay for such a downgrade.