Packers Morning Buzz: Bears QB Aaron Rodgers? Chicago makes sense as potential next stop

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with Rob Reischel of ForbesSports listing five potential destinations for Aaron Rodgers should the Packers quarterback move on from Green Bay in the next couple of years. And one of those possible destinations might be tough to stomach for Packers fans:

5.  Chicago

If the Packers trade Rodgers, it will almost certainly be out of the NFC. But Rodgers could be crafty and work his way back inside the NFC North to play for Green Bay’s hated rivals to the south.

Remember, when Green Bay traded Brett Favre in the summer of 2008, it was to the New York Jets. But Favre retired after that season, was later released by the Jets, then unretired and signed with Minnesota.

Rodgers could plot a similar course, and chances are the Bears will need quarterback help.

Chicago hasn’t had a quarterback voted to the Pro Bowl since Jim McMahon in 1986 (Mitchell Trubisky was an alternate in 2018). And the Bears will head to training camp this summer with veteran Nick Foles and Trubisky set to battle for the starting job.

If things go badly for Chicago — and when it comes to quarterbacks, they usually do — expect the Bears to also enter the Rodgers’ Sweepstakes.

You can find out Reischel's other four potential destinations for Rodgers here:

Rodgers tweeted Thursday for the first since before the draft and this was, uh, not what we expected:

He did leave a possible clue on an Instagram post: #relax

Rodgers' contract making it virtually impossible for the Packers to trade him this year because of the staggering salary-cap implications. Tom Silverstein explains:

Nonetheless, Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus still lists Rodgers first on his list of players who could be on the move.

Palazzolo writes:

After the Packers drafted quarterback Jordan Love in the first round, did any teams inquire about Aaron Rodgers? Are the Packers preparing for life after Rodgers or simply making a wise forward-looking move to develop their quarterback of the future? Either way, Rodgers cannot be thrilled about where the Packers invested their draft picks, as the team is obviously laying the groundwork for their future with a new scheme emphasis. It’s also unlikely that Rodgers is on the trading block soon, but it’s something to monitor given the step back we’ve seen him take in recent years and Green Bay’s investment in Love.

Check out the entire story here:

Former Packers executive Andrew Brandt says he'll stand on his head for a podcast if the Packers move on from Rodgers before 2022:

So was the bigger sin moving up to draft Rodgers' heir apparent, or failing to get Rodgers more weapons:

This is much more relevant than the misleading list that pointed out Rodgers has thrown only one career TD pass to a first-round draft pick (Marcedes Lewis last season):

Tom Oates notes that the Packers did little in free agency and the draft to enhance their 2020 NFC title hopes:

ESPN's Bill Barnwell lists one player on each of the 32 teams who are likely candidates to be traded during the offseason. For the Packers, that player is running back Jamaal Williams.

Barnwell writes:

Packers fans haven't taken kindly to the team's draft, but they might find a silver lining in the decision to use a second-round pick on bruising running back AJ Dillon. Williams has been an ineffective change-of-pace back for his entire career and dragged down the Green Bay offense when he was on the field replacing Aaron Jones.

With both Jones and Williams in the final year of their respective deals, it seems likely that the Packers will go with Jones and Dillon as their running back rotation, leaving Williams as a possible special-teamer or candidate for release.

You can read the entire story here:

The draft ratings are still trickling in .... and things aren't getting any better for the Packers. This from CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson:

32. Packers

We were happy to defend the Jordan Love pick on Thursday night. We liked the idea of Aaron Rodgers' contract structure pretty much requiring Love to sit on the bench for two seasons -- it's exactly what his game needs -- but things not only went off the rails but right over the cliff on Friday and Saturday. In the deepest wide receiver class in human civilization, the Packers selected exactly zero wide receivers, and they passed on an interior defensive lineman in each round even though there were obvious needs there too. It's hard to figure out what the plan is in Green Bay beyond angering Rodgers. Grade: D

Wilson's entire draft ratings are here:

Packers players are feeling a bit disrespected:

Clay wants his pay:

And finally ... getting back to why the Bears would be interested if Rodgers ever became available:

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt