Rapoport Makes it Sound Like Aaron Rodgers is Once Again Prepared to Take His Sweetass Time Deciding Where He Signs

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I'll admit that at times I've been somewhat critical of Aaron Rodgers. But it's at times like this that I respect the hell out the man. How can I not? There's something admirable about a guy who's willing to do what he's doing right now. 

We're halfway through March. He's an unemployed 41 year old professional athlete who plays the most demanding position in all of sports. He's just been humiliatingly rejected by the most laughably incompetent franchise in existence who had pinned all their hopes on him over the past two seasons of failure that saw them hand total control over to him. The GM who recruited him and bankrupted the organization to get him got fired, followed by the head coach. The first order of business for the new braintrust was to cut all ties and move on without him. Sources around the league have said there'll be no market for him:

He's coming off his worst statistical season. And after all his years in the league, he's still only made one trip to the Super Bowl, albeit winning a ring. But even that was a decade and a half ago. If you're old enough to have memories of that championship, congratulations on your recent college graduation. 

Any average, garden variety human in Rodgers' situation would either retire, or gladly accept a sort of ceremonial backup position. A QB Emeritus role of mentoring some younger, more qualified starter. Still drawing a paycheck, but without all the heavy lifting. Think Doug Flutie or Randall Cunningham. In Rodgers' case, as a Hall of Famer in Waiting. 

But not him. Even with the QB1 market drying up around him, he's reportedly in no hurry whatsoever to find employment:

"Now, here's sort of the issue for the Giants, and it's the same issue for the Steelers or whoever ends up signing Aaron Rodgers. I don't get the sense he's in a hurry at all. I really don't. And there's no deadline for him to be.

“Usually, if you’re a free agent, you would say, ‘Alright, I’ve got to sign by maybe Monday or Tuesday, otherwise the money’s going to be dried up. One: it’s not like that at the quarterback position. Right? I mean, if you're a team that wants Aaron Rodgers, you're going to make sure there's space. You're going to make sure there's room. You're going to do everything you can to let him know, 'Hey, whenever you make a decision, we got you.' Right?

"The other thing is, he doesn’t have to decide by any time. He sort of controls this thing. So if you’re the Giants or the Vikings or the Steelers or whoever ends up signing Aaron Rodgers, if it's anyone, then you’d like it  now. But the next point is, do you draft someone? And that's a month away.

“I don’t get the sense that Rodgers is in any kind of hurry at all. And there’s no deadline for him to be. Could it drag out all the way to the draft like it did two years ago? Maybe it could.”

Sure, you can say his approach is one of gross overconfidence. Delusional, even. Way out of proportion to the amount of actual leverage he has, given his current circumstances. If I was advising him, I'd have gotten his signature on a short-term, incentive laden contract weeks ago. But I'm nobody's idea of an agent. And I doubt he's even listening to his own professionals. I've heard it said the biggest lies are told six inches in front of the mirror. And no doubt Rodgers looks in his and sees the 2020 version of himself with the 48 TDs, 5 INTs, 70.7 completion % and 121.5 passer rating staring back. And not the one Woody Johnson wanted to bench back in October. 

So, he's still out there selling his services. Presumably to the Giants, Vikings and Steelers, and who knows who else. And you can't help but be amazed at the self-confidence. True, it's sad. But at the same time it's ballsy. Like that old guy who still hitting on college chicks at the bar. You feel that secondhand embarrassment for him, but still appreciate the fact he's got no quit in him. And in a million-to-one shot, might actually luck out and find himself a dance partner. The ones you don't respect are whoever is willing to leave with him at the end of the night. 

So keep doing you, ARod. There's no shame in still trying. If it works out, I'll admire him even more. It's whatever team is willing to accept the sloppy seconds of the Jets, of all people, that we should really feel embarrassed for.