Aaron Rodgers’ return keeps Packers’ title window open, but it’s just the first step – Green Bay Packers Blog

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last season wasn’t “The Last Dance” for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

Now, they have to figure out how to keep dancing longer in the playoffs than they did in what seemed like a Super-Bowl-or-bust year.

Rodgers’ decision to return for another season, as he told Pat McAfee on Tuesday morning, is only the beginning. While it’s the most important piece, it’s not the only one.

In fact, now the real work begins.

It’s on general manager Brian Gutekunst and salary-cap manager Russ Ball to figure out how the Packers can not only make another run with as many of the players from last season as possible, but also make some important additions to push them over the top.

“There’s a lot to build on there, whether I’m there or not,” Rodgers said on Feb. 10, after accepting his MVP award. “I think they’ve got a really good nucleus in place. Should I come back, there’s some things that need to get done, probably, to get the team where it needs to go.”

There’s no reason to think Rodgers’ play will decline; he was as sharp in the regular season as ever on the way to winning his fourth MVP and second in a row. He turned 38 in the midst of one of his most efficient seasons with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 9.4 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the last two seasons is the best in a two-season span in NFL history with a minimum of 1,000 attempts, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He missed one game after he contracted COVID-19, with the Packers losing at the Kansas City Chiefs, because of his mandatory quarantine as an unvaccinated player, but it did not prevent the Packers from earning the top seed for the NFC playoffs.