Report: Aaron Rodgers’ unhappiness could affect contract talks

Aaron Rodgers is back in Green Bay for the start of the Packers' offseason program, but there could be some awkward greetings being exchanged throughout the halls of 1265 Lombardi on Tuesday after a Yahoo! Sports report earlier this morning that the quarterback is “frustrated” and “emotional” about not being included in conversations regarding decisions that impact him.

Charles Robinson also writes that the quarterback’s discontent with personnel decisions to move on from wide receiver Jordy Nelson and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt could end up affecting the ongoing contract extension talks between Rodgers and the team.

From Robinson:

While the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers isn’t in total disrepair, two league sources familiar with the quarterback’s mindset described him as both “frustrated” and “emotional” over a lack of communication from the front office prior to some significant decisions this offseason. Specifically, the sources said Rodgers has lingering discontent being completely cut out of discussions that resulted in the departures of wideout Jordy Nelson and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. And it apparently is entering his thought process when it comes to his next contract extension.

“Both of those decisions [with Nelson and Van Pelt] were made without him,” one league source close to Rodgers said. “In both situations, he had no influence with [the front office] before anything went down.”

As Robinson points out toward the end of his story, Rodgers does not have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiations for a contract extension, as he is under contract for two more years and the team could use the franchise tag on him the next two years after that. 

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However, it would be naive to dismiss the timing here. The Packers have expressed publicly several times their desire to get a deal with Rodgers done sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Rodgers has little to no incentive to get anything done any time soon. 

UPDATE: Rodgers was asked about his contract extension during media availability for the opening of the offseason program on Tuesday morning. The veteran quarterback simply said there's nothing to report and downplayed reports of his unhappiness with management.