Chicago Bears: This could finally be the offseason Aaron Rodgers leaves the Packers

The Chicago Bears have been owned by Aaron Rodgers.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback has a 24-5 career record versus the Bears in the NFL’s oldest rivalry. You would have to go back to December of 2018 to find the last time the Chicago Bears defeated the four-time NFL MVP.

During Rodgers’ tenure as the Packers starting quarterback, the Packers have flipped the series record in their favor. Green Bay has also overtaken the Chicago Bears for most wins as a franchise. The rivalry has become so one-sided that the Bears have only won three games versus the Packers in the last ten years.

It has come down to a combination of the Chicago Bears being bad and Aaron Rodgers playing so well against the Bears. It just feels like the moment that No. 12 steps on the field against the Bears, the score is automatically 24-0. That all could be coming to end soon.

This could finally be the offseason that the Packers and Aaron Rodgers are no longer together.

This is not the first the offseason where it has been reported Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay are parting ways.

Rodgers reportedly demanded a trade during the 2021 offseason. He was unhappy with Green Bay’s front office and wanted out. General manager Brian Gutekunst and Rodgers were able to mend fences and the Packers went onto the win the NFC North.

Last offseason there was a small chance Rodgers wanted to retire but he worked out a contract extension with the Packers.

This will be the third consecutive offseason Green Bay will have to sweat out what Rodgers wants to do. He may retire. He might be open to a trade if he does decide to suit up for the 2023 season.

The report has the Packers not even worried from moving on from the future Hall of Famer and turning to Jordan Love. Love will be entering his fourth season and Gutekunst traded up to select the quarterback in the first round.

Rodgers’ performance declined last season as he threw 26 touchdowns and 12 touchdowns. So it the Packers wanting to move on does make some sense. Although, part of Rodgers’ decline can be attributed to Rodgers playing the majority of the season with a broken thumb. He played well enough to beat the Chicago Bears twice in 2022.

Brett Favre started the trend of things going the Packers way in this rivalry. Rodgers took the torch and burned the Bears like no other Packers quarterback has.

That is why the last two offseasons Bears fans clung to hope that it was finally the offseason that Aaron Rodgers was no longer with the Packers. Green Bay has had signal caller greatness since 1992. The Bears have rolled out quarterbacks like Cade McNown, Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Rex Grossman, and Mike Glennon during that period.

Seeing Rodgers leave town might finally signal that the Packers could be wandering the quarterback wilderness. There is a generation of Packers fans who have known nothing but Hall of Fame quarterback play. Bears fans in that same time span have seen their team trade up one spot to select Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes.

Proceed with caution on how hopeful you get that this is the year the Packers are done with Rodgers.

We have had two prior offseasons with the same drama and it yielded Rodgers still wearing the green and gold and beating the Bears. Although, this year does feel like the finality of the Rodgers era is coming. With the Packers missing the playoffs and Jordan Love’s fifth-year option decision coming up, the Packers could be motivated to pull the trigger on moving on from Rodgers.

Although, if Rodgers does not retire, it does not mean his Bears unofficial ownership is over. It just means he will not own the Bears living in Green Bay.