We are just over a month away from the Las Vegas Raiders beginning their 2021 campaign and a serious wild card for their roster remains lurking in the shadows.
The oh-so-great Aaron Rodgers is unhappy with the Packers and is looking to move on to another team is what the narrative has been the past several months. Vegas has even begun posting their lines as to whether or not Rodgers retires, or whether he will be with a new team, like the Las Vegas Raiders.
Whether he does retire or goes to a new team, the Raiders need to stay away from this situation despite how good it may look on paper. If you’re Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock, or Mark Davis, you cannot take the bait on this.
Here is why the Raiders need to stay far away from Aaron Rodgers
It’s for the simple fact that Rodgers is not all he is cracked up to be. There is a large faction in today’s sports media that pumps Rodgers up in direct opposition to Tom Brady because he is the only one in Aaron’s way to being the best quarterback in football, and it’s been that way for years.
Had this been a different time and Tom Brady had been before the era of Rodgers, then Aaron would be what everyone sees Tom as, being the G.O.A.T. as the kids say these days.
But even with that in mind, Aaron’s body of work does not constitute the praise he is rewarded with. Being widely regarded by the Brady haters as the G.O.A.T. does not conceal the fact that without the emergence of Matt LaFleur as the Packers head coach, Davante Adams as a top 3 receiver in the game, and Aaron Jones as a top 10 back, Rodgers would arguably be retired by now.
We can always look at last year’s numbers and how he was rewarded with an MVP trophy, but none focus on the fact that his numbers were plummeting before LaFleur came to town. He aided in getting Mike McCarthy, a legit offensive mind who had years of success orchestrating the Packers run out of town, and his performance in the playoffs outside of his lone Super Bowl years have been underwhelming, to say the least.
For the so-called greatest of all time, an 11-9 postseason record with 4-straight NFC Championship losses, including the last four times in a row, does not offer his case much support.
When it comes to the possible fit in Vegas with Jon Gruden the quarterback whisperer, I just don’t see how it can work. Yes, you have Gruden who loves his quarterbacks, and Rodgers who’s a future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, but the problem on this Raiders team is not a simple fix of adding a quarterback.
The defense needs to step up, the offensive line needs to be rebuilt, and the weapons on this team do not mirror the weapons Aaron had in Green Bay in recent years. No wide receiver on this Raiders team stands up to Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs is still rounding into a threat in the passing game from his running back spot.
If you take the plunge and bring Rodgers on board, you are adding a headache to an already tough situation with your 2021 roster, or possibly even 2022, and the rest of your team will pay the price for it. As with Aaron Rodgers’s struggles, undoubtedly come the tearing down of his supporting cast to make him look devoid of blame.
Stick with Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota, Raiders. You’ll be way happier.