When the Green Bay Packers moved Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, two of his top wide receivers, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, accompanied him. That left Green Bay with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Samori Toure, Bo Melton, and three 2023 NFL Draft selections at wide receiver.
In other words, first and second year players would be the Packers’ lone weapons for first-year starter Jordan Love. This was a significant departure from Rodgers’ previous role at quarterback. Even when the four-time NFL MVP took over for Brett Favre in 2008, Green Bay always had one or two proven veterans on hand.
Over the years, Rodgers has tended to favor these older pass catchers, frequently neglecting younger and less experienced players during games in order to target his favorite targets, who may or may not be open.
Aaron Rodgers seemed to be a different person when he joined the New York Jets.
By most accounts, Rodgers is an excellent teammate. However, it was clear that he did not prefer passing to rookie wide receivers. When the Packers selected Watson, Doubs, and Toure in 2022, Rodgers avoided all offseason activities until mandatory training camp.
To be fair, his issue was with the front office, not the young pass catchers themselves. That being said, Rodgers and his rookies did not develop chemistry until late in the regular season.
After being traded to the Jets, Rodgers participated in all offseason activities, including some that were voluntary. He was also observed on several times hanging out with the team’s younger players, like Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson.
This year, Rodgers reportedly allowed 2024 NFL Draft pick Malachi Corley to reside at his guest house in New York while he looks for his own place.
This gesture evidently irritated one former Packers wide receiver.
Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Amari Rodgers slams Aaron Rodgers in a deleted tweet.
The Amari Rodgers saga in Green Bay is not a good one. He was taken in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft as a much-needed slot receiver. Following the 2018 season, the Packers dismissed Cobb, one of Aaron’s greatest friends, and had failed to find a strong slot receiver to replace him.
As fans may recall, Rodgers won his third NFL MVP Award during the 2020 season and “held out” throughout the 2021 offseason, prompting many to speculate whether he would force a trade. While the Rodgers trade was still two years away, the Packers agreed to bring Cobb back to Green Bay in a trade with the Houston Texans.
As a result, Amari did not see much playing time because a seasoned veteran was ahead of him on the depth chart. The 2021 third-round pick was eventually released in the middle of the 2022 season.
When news of Rodgers’ gesture to Corley surfaced in New York, the former Packers wide receiver posted the following on X (previously Twitter), which has since been deleted:
The problem with Amari’s argument is that he was released because he couldn’t keep the ball, not because his quarterback didn’t invite him to stay at his home.
Before being released by the Packers in 2022, he fumbled five times on punt returns. In 2021, he fumbled twice. To put things into perspective, he had three first-down receptions as a receiver and seven fumbles as a returner.
The truth is that Cobb was injured for a fourth of the games Green Bay played after he returned in the deal with Houston. If Amari was any good, he could have received some playing time.
But he didn’t because he was a liability with the football in his possession.
Unfortunately, he didn’t delete the post before hundreds of screenshots were taken of it. It sounds like a player is making excuses.
