Do you side with Aaron Rodgers or the Packers? | You Pod to Win the Game

Yahoo Sports Senior NFL Writer Charles Robinson is joined by Yahoo Sports National Columnist Dan Wetzel to discuss the never ending drama between the Green Bay Packers and their MVP quarterback. One of our experts understands where Rodgers is coming from, and believes organizations need to listen to their franchise QBs. Meanwhile, the other believes Rodgers needs to get over his issues with the front office, and take some of the blame for the NFC Championship game loss.

Video Transcript

CHARLES ROBINSON: You have the Green Bay Packers, who, you know, CEO Mark Murphy came out recently, and said, look, nothing's changed with Aaron Rodgers. 100% true. Nothing has changed. It's crazy. What changed behind the scenes, the Packers have offered Aaron Rodgers a lot of money, a ton of money. There is a contract there for him to sign. What I think could break the ice on this is if they gave Aaron a little bit of control, meaning, you know what, you signed this huge deal, we'll give you an out after year one. You've got 2021 to look at that, and if you don't like it, we'll give you an out clause after year one, or we'll make the promise that we'll trade you. I think, though, the Packers are going to call his bluff. I think the Packers know exactly what he wants beyond the contract. I think Aaron would like something to happen publicly that shows everybody, OK, there's a mea culpa on the part of the Packers, whether that's going and getting players Aaron would like, whether that's statements that are made. I don't know. But, again, I think the Packers are sitting there going, money solves this, the money is on the table, now we're going to call his bluff and wait and see if he shows up.

DAN WETZEL: Yeah, I mean, Rodgers, to me, this is just drama, the drama queen. My God. Snowflakes fall in Green Bay. I need an apology? For what? Give me a break. You know what, Aaron? Third and 8, 2:15 seconds left, NFC Championship Game against Tampa, you're running. You can scramble and either get in or get to the 2, 3-yard line, and you throw an incomplete pass to Adams, and then he spent all offseason joking about how, oh, well, we kick a field goal instead of going for it. You should have gone for it on that play! How wrong was Green Bay? Should they have had one more option instead of Jordan Love? Yes. But get over it. Get over it.

CHARLES ROBINSON: See, you and I are going to be apart on this one. I think that Rodgers sits there and says, I feel like I could have been hurt by the front office. I feel like there are certain guys they've valued, and they turned a deaf ear to it. I feel like they could have rolled out the red carpet a little more for me than they did, instead of treating me like you're a player. Look, you're a prized player. We care a lot about you. But at the end of the day, we're old-school general managers, and we're just going to do what we think is right for the team, and, you know, you're just going to have to bite your lip and deal with it. I think times have changed. The orgs should lean in a little bit to them, and kind of facilitate some of the things they would like to see happen, or at least let them know that some of the things that they value, they're things that the organization will value too, because they want to make sure that the quarterback feels he's as big a part of this as he is on the field, he's as big a part of this off the field. I know fans don't want to hear that, and apparently Dan Wetzel doesn't want to hear that.

DAN WETZEL: Nope.

CHARLES ROBINSON: You guys call quarterbacks "divas," and we say, well, just shut up and play, and all this stuff. The NFL, they're really smart about partnerships when it comes to business. They're really smart about making sure they bend over backwards for Amazon, so that they can sign the TV deals that they have to sign. They're really sure they-- Hey, hey.

DAN WETZEL: I mean, that's different.

CHARLES ROBINSON: No, no, no. Hear me out here. No, it's not different. Stan Kroenke, you want to move--

DAN WETZEL: Is Aaron Rodgers paying the NFL?

CHARLES ROBINSON: He's making money for the NFL, hell yes.

DAN WETZEL: Is he paying the Packers?

CHARLES ROBINSON: Listen, quarterbacks are partners, period. Patrick Mahomes is a partner. I think the guys that want to flex, that are top-five quarterbacks, should absolutely sit there and look at the organizations. They treat me like I'm the partner that I am.

DAN WETZEL: Could they have been nicer to Aaron Rodgers or whatever? Yes. Get over it. I mean, if you are relying on your player to be a part of the selection process of your roster, you will fail overwhelmingly.

CHARLES ROBINSON: I disagree.

DAN WETZEL: 100%. Tom Brady hand-selected the most talented team sitting there and added a few pieces. He got Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, and Gronk. That's what he got, OK?

CHARLES ROBINSON: Three pretty important pieces.

DAN WETZEL: OK, Gronk was always going with him. Fine. That's the partnership. I mean, you cannot sit there-- I don't think-- I was extremely critical of Green Bay for drafting Jordan Love. It made zero sense at this stage of how football is played, and especially Jordan Love. Terrible strategy. So I am on the side of Aaron Rodgers there. But get over it, and stop pretending that the reason you didn't beat Tampa Bay was all because your coach was a wimp on the fourth down call and a draft pick. Run the freaking ball! You had first and goal at the 8. Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete, field goal. That's what cost you the thing. Do something! Aaron Rodgers, score a touchdown! Then we'll talk! If the NFL is going to shift how it does business and how it treats all of its quarterbacks, just because Tom Brady got a few bit pieces to join an already loaded, loaded offense that he hand-selected, and a loaded defense that harassed the crap out of Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, that is terrible strategy.