Aaron Rodgers apparently refused to return calls from the Packers general manager during the offseason

At some point in the off-season, the Packers made the decision to move on with Aaron Rodgers and one of the reasons it happened is apparently because he wasn’t returning their calls.

When Rodgers left town after the end of the 2022 season, both sides seemed open to the idea of ​​the quarterback possibly returning in 2023. But before that could happen, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wanted to get Rodgers on the phone to talk about the future. of the team. However, those conversations never happened because Rodgers apparently dodged every call he received from the Packers.

“You’d love to have those conversations about where our team is going and how he could fit into that,” Gutekunst said Monday via ESPN.com. “We couldn’t have that one, so it is what it is.”

According to Gutekunst, the Packers tried to reach Rodgers several times.

“We’ve tried a lot, but at the same time we’re always looking for what’s best for the Green Bay Packers,” Gutekunst said via NFL.com. “As time went on, we had to move a little bit.”

With Rodgers ghosting him, Gutekunst finally made the decision it was time to move on from the four-time NFL MVP.

“Our inability to reach him or respond in any way,” Gutekunst said via ESPN.com. “I think at that point I had to do my job and get in touch [to other teams] and understand that a transaction could be possible and see who was interested.”

Indeed, Rodgers and the Packers had some amicable talks in the days following the team’s regular season finale, but as Gutekunst has pointed out, they never spoke after that because Rodgers wouldn’t answer his phone.

“I was really looking forward to talking to Aaron to see how he fit in,” said Gutekunst. “Those never materialized. So there came a time when we had to make some decisions, so we went through his reps to try and talk to him. [about] where did we go with our team. At that point they let us know that he would like to be traded to the Jets.”

The Packers’ version of events doesn’t exactly match Rodgers’ version, which he shared during a March 15 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. However, on one thing the two sides agree that things were cordial at the end of the season.

“All I was told the week I was in Green Bay was, ‘Take as long as you want and we want you to retire a Packer. Of course if you want to come back and play the door is wide open open.” Rodgers said via the AP. “That was the information I was using.”

According to Rodgers, the team decided to move on — without telling him — while he was on his four-day darkness retreat, which ended Feb. 23.

“They want to move on,” Rodgers told McAfee. “They don’t want me to come back and that’s fine.”

Of course, one important detail that Rodgers failed to mention is that he may have played a big part in why Green Bay didn’t want him back. If Rodgers avoided contact with the team, then he was putting the final nail in his own coffin when it comes to his career with the Packers.

At some point, Rodgers will surely be asked about these comments and it will certainly be interesting to hear what he has to say.