Packers GM Discusses Aaron Rodgers, Says He Never Promised to Grant a Trade Request

Aaron Rodgers' future with the Green Bay Packers is still up in the air, and it remains possible that he requests to be traded from the team.

But the path to a potential deal involving the star quarterback became murky when Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters that he never promised to trade Rodgers after the 2021 season.

"Those are some hypotheticals that I don't think we're going to go down those roads right now," Gutekunst said when asked about Rodgers potentially requesting a trade.

Per ESPN's Rob Demovsky, it was "widely believed that Rodgers and the Packers had a handshake agreement that if the reigning MVP still wanted out after the 2021 season they would trade him." Gutekunst further said that he never agreed to anything of the sort, and he had always intended to figure things out mutually after the season:

"That was not something I told him. Again, I think the whole conversation with Aaron last season before he came back was that, regardless, at the end of this past season, that we would sit down as a group and we would work it out one way or another."

While a potential deal for Rodgers would likely land a massive haul of draft picks in return, Gutekunst said his preference would be to retain the reigning NFL MVP. The same goes for star wide receiver Davante Adams, who is set to become a free agent next month.

When asked why he wouldn't want to trade Rodgers, Gutekunst replied, "Because I think we've got as good a shot as anybody to win a Super Bowl next year. He's the MVP of the league. That's our goal. I think we have an opportunity to do it right now. That's why."

On Tuesday, Rodgers told Pat McAfee that he had yet to make a decision on his future. He put out a lengthy Instagram post Monday thanking his teammates and the Packers organization.

Gutekunst said there will be no pressure from the front office for Rodgers to make his decision, but he acknowledged that the team can't address other areas until it knows what he plans on doing.

"Obviously everything around here kind of centers on the quarterback," Gutekunst said. "It's a big piece and a domino that kind of has to fall before we go down the other avenues. So it's important as we go through this and the puzzle pieces we have to try to make fit. That's the first one to go."