Wednesday Cheese Curds: Aaron Rodgers’ play & ‘leadership’ are leaving much to be desired

From publicly shaming unnamed teammates to throwing terrible INTs to hamstringing the Packers with an albatross contract, everything #12 has done over the last year has led to this point — everyone questioning his long-term future with the team.

After another loss strung the Green Bay Packers’ streak to five straight, questions are swirling around Aaron Rodgers’ long-term status with the team. The new contract he signed this offseason makes it difficult for the Packers to move on from him unilaterally, something the team was surely fine with when they assumed he would maintain high-quality-to-elite quarterback play.

Now that he is not living up to the value of that deal — indeed, he is falling vastly short of it — fans are seeing those who cover the Packers starting to question how and when the team can move on from Rodgers. Yes, that includes writers at sites like this one, but it is also extending out to beat writers for traditional media sources.

Other people on the Packers beat are taking Rodgers to task for his public comments. Many of those, while arguably being fair criticisms of teammates, are not befitting of a leader. Indeed, the longest-tenured person on the Packers has some sharp criticism of the quarterback, both for his public statements and his apparent hijacking of the offensive approach.

Times look bleak in Green Bay right now. Whether the team falls further into their collapse and truly bottoms out this season or follows Rodgers’ pleas for digging deep to find their competitive fire will remain to be seen over the next several weeks. But either way, the Packers will have some tough calls to make this offseason about number 12.

Aaron Rodgers needs a lesson in how to be a leader | Packersnews.com ($)
Tom Silverstein lowers the boom, looking at Rodgers’ public comments compared to those of other QBs and examining how clear it is that the Packers are not running Matt LaFleur’s offensive scheme — they’re running Rodgers’.

Could Aaron Rodgers be benched? His contract limits Packers’ options – ESPN
The nearly $60 million option bonus could defer most of Rodgers’ salary for 2023 into future years for salary cap purposes, assuming he stays in Green Bay, but as Rcon noted recently, a trade would almost certainly need to come after June 1st and without the team exercising that bonus before that point.

With Aaron Rodgers struggling, unique connection with Davante Adams even more evident – The Athletic ($)
Perhaps Rodgers’ trust in Adams made him more willing to work within the confines of LaFleur’s scheme?

Aaron Rodgers: Packers have two options for overcoming injuries during disappointing season | Packers Wire
There is hardly a “Run the Table” comment in here. Maybe the closest thing to it is his “North Star” line when talking about players trying to bring out their own competitive greatness rather than giving in and simply going through the motions.

As Packers Ponder Future, Does Jordan Love Need to Replace Aaron Rodgers? – Sports Illustrated
Surely Rodgers won’t be happy with it, but the instant that the team is officially eliminated from playoff contention, Love needs to get under center for some real reps. The team basically has a grand total of 7 or 8 halves worth of tape on Love between preseason and regular season action, and they need to get more to figure out if he’s worth keeping around.

What You Might’ve Missed: Youth stepping forward | Packers.com
Unrelated to the quarterback, at least there were a handful of signs of progress from some of the Packers’ young defenders on Sunday. It’s time to get Devonte Wyatt more than ten snaps per game.

Norwegian princess quits royal duties to work with ‘shaman’ fiance | The Guardian
Hmm. If she and her fiancé ever break it off, don’t be surprised if Rodgers gives her a call.