Aaron Rodgers Not Thinking Retirement, Says He Wants to Play for 8 More Years

The Green Bay Packers know all about having a quarterback uncertain with how long he wants to play, so hearing Aaron Rodgers provide a long-term outlook for his career is a welcome change of pace.   

Speaking to Peter King of TheMMQB.com (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) Friday, Rodgers said that he plans to play for eight more years in the NFL. 

The subject came up because King was talking to the reigning NFL MVP about how the Packers could have 30 consecutive years of quarterback play from Brett Favre and Rodgers: "A footnote, first. I said to Rodgers on Friday that if he could play four or five more years, he and Favre would be near 30 years combined, and … 'Eight,' Rodgers said."

While none of these things said in a casual setting are set in stone—just two years ago, Rodgers told Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette he wanted to play eight more years—Packers management has to be breathing a sigh of relief knowing there's no danger of a will he-won't he retirement talk from its current quarterback. 

That certainly wasn't the case with Favre, who teased retirement for years starting in 2006, eventually leading to the future Hall of Famer being traded to the New York Jets in August 2008. 

Give Rodgers credit for keeping things realistic, compared to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady who says he is going to play forever. 

Rodgers is just 31 years old, is coming off of an MVP season—the second of his career—and shows no signs of slowing down. He threw for 4,381 yards and 38 touchdowns en route to leading the Packers to an appearance in January's NFC Championship Game. 

With the Packers getting indirect assurances Rodgers isn't going anywhere soon, the team can focus on continuing to build the roster around him and trying to win another championship. It almost happened last year, and they should be in the mix again this year.