Aaron Rodgers unsure if Packers would ever invite him to return

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A month after Aaron Rodgers said there would have to be an invitation for him to come back to Lambeau Field in a nonplaying capacity, he suggested that an invitation from the Packers -- or his acceptance if one was extended -- might not be a sure thing.

"I think there's some people that have a lot of affection for me, and I would assume we're talking four or five years from now that there will be fans who still have appreciation for what I've done, especially after so much time has passed," Rodgers told "Wilde and Tausch" on ESPN Milwaukee/Madison radio. "I think there's certain people in the building who wouldn't be totally on board, and maybe I wouldn't be on board if they were still there as well."

Rodgers did not mention any names.

General manager Brian Gutekunst, who ultimately made the decision to move on from Rodgers and trade him to the New York Jets in 2023, remains with the team. So does coach Matt LaFleur. Former team president Mark Murphy, who retired in 2025, said on multiple occasions that the Packers would retire Rodgers' No. 12 "at the appropriate time."

Murphy was replaced by Ed Policy, who was the team's chief operating officer and general counsel at the time.

The Packers retired former quarterback Brett Favre's No. 4 and inducted him into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2015, four years after he retired and one year before he went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The end of Favre's tenure in Green Bay was far more acrimonious than it was for Rodgers, although there were some contentious periods late in Rodgers' career with the Packers, and most of them centered around Gutekunst.

Rodgers skipped the entire 2021 offseason program, and by the time he reported for training camp, he laid out a long list of complaints about the organization that included criticism of Gutekunst and a desire to be more involved in decisions that would impact him.

Then there was the period leading up to Rodgers' trade out of Green Bay. Gutekunst said he was never able to get in touch with Rodgers to discuss his thoughts, and then Rodgers said during his introductory news conference with the Jets that Gutekunst should know that Rodgers has poor cell service at his California home and should have used FaceTime to reach him.

"There's definitely some things I could've done to make those guys a little more comfortable I guess, but the GM wanted me out of there, so it was only a matter of time," Rodgers said during his radio appearance. "They were just looking for one non-MVP season and that was going to be that. Didn't understand it. Didn't necessarily agree with it. I just didn't like the way it was handled, and obviously I could have probably handled it better. But on the flip side, it probably made it a little easier on Jordan [Love].

"I loved my time there. And I didn't let the ending skew any of the good times that we had and how much I enjoyed playing there and playing at Lambeau and being around so many great people over the years."

Gutekunst has not expressed any public animosity toward Rodgers and said on "The Rich Eisen Show" in 2025 that he roots for Rodgers and "there's so much appreciation for him from our organization and from myself."

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