Aaron Rodgers isn't ready to make any declarations about his future.
After finishing his standard exit interviews with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show that both sides are taking their time with the decisions.
"They're not pressing for any type of specific answer, and I'm not mentally or emotionally at that point to give one," Rodgers said.
Last offseason, Rodgers considered moving on from Green Bay following his fourth MVP award but eventually inked a new contract that bumped his pay.
After a down 2022 campaign by his standards and the Packers finishing 8-9, out of the playoffs, Rodgers is contemplating his future again.
"Look, I think you have a feeling where you are leaning, but there's a lot of things that come into play," he said. "I think just some on my side, it's the physical part, it's the emotional part, it's the spiritual part. It's the ability to go back out there and give it one hundred percent. It's also the situation and where the team is at and the focus moving forward, short term, long term. Then it comes down to intuition and what it feels like in your body and what it feels like in your mind. Once you commit, then you commit. You move forward, whatever the decision is, so you know, I just need some time right now. I don't need to ask anybody to respect my time or whatever. That's going to be the answer until I'm ready, and when I'm ready to give my opinion like I was last year, I'm either all in or I'm out."
After throwing for his fewest yards in a season in which he played at least 10 games and generating 26 touchdowns to 12 interceptions (one off his career high), Rodgers said he can still play at an MVP level.
"Do I still think I can play? Of course. Can I play at a high level? Yeah. The highest," Rodgers said. "I think I can win MVP again in the right situation. Right situation, is that Green Bay or is that somewhere else? I'm not sure. But I don't think you should shut down any opportunity. But like I said during the season, it's got to be both sides actually wanting to work together moving forward."
Over the course of the past several seasons, Rodgers had nudged the Packers' front office to sign and re-sign players he believes are essential to Green Bay continuing to play at a high level. Tuesday, he made it clear some of the players he'd like to see back in the locker room if he's to return.
"I think there's more conversations to be had," he said. "I think no player wants to be part of any type of rebuild. I said that years ago. Reloads are a lot of fun because you feel like you're close, you're only a couple guys away. This game is about relationships. It's about the guys you rely on, even if they don't maybe show up huge in the stat book. A guy like Marcedes Lewis, he's an important cog in the wheel of the locker room and the momentum of the team. That's a guy I want to finish my career with. You know? If I'm playing, I want that guy next to me. I want the Randall Cobbs of the world, if he wants to keep playing, in my locker room. Guys you can win with. Allen Lazard , Robert Tonyan, David Bakhtiari.
"There's a lot of interesting names that we'll see their desire to re-sign these certain guys who are glue guys in the locker room will be interesting conversations to be had. Take all that away, I still need to mentally get to a point where I feel 100% locked in a ready to play a 19th season. And if I do, then we'll rock and roll, and we'll figure that out. If I don't, we'll go into the jungles for a while."
Whether it's the gridiron or the jungles for Rodgers in 2023, only time will tell.
