Rodgers arrives in Green Bay for Packers camp
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers has made it to Green Bay on the eve of the Packers’ first training-camp workout.
Rodgers was seen arriving at Lambeau Field on Tuesday morning, the day after NFL Network and ESPN reported the reigning MVP was closing in on a deal that would keep him with the Packers this season. The Packers later tweeted a photo of Rodgers at Lambeau Field — wearing oversize sunglasses and a novelty T-shirt referencing “The Office.”
The Packers open training camp Wednesday. Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, Rodgers would have been subject to a $50,000 fine for every day he held out during camp.
Rodgers didn’t participate in organized team activities this spring — a change from his usual offseason routine — and skipped the Packers’ mandatory minicamp.
His future with the Packers had seemed tenuous after ESPN reported in the hours leading up to the draft that he didn’t want to return to Green Bay. Rodgers has spent his entire career with the Packers, who selected him with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 draft.
On the same day that Rodgers reported to Lambeau Field, the Packers released quarterbacks Blake Bortles and Jake Dolegala. The Packers had signed Bortles in May, a couple of weeks after the reports of Rodgers’ discontent surfaced. Dolegala signed with the Packers in June.
Bortles’ release leaves Rodgers, 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Love and Kurt Benkert as the lone quarterbacks on Green Bay’s roster. Benkert signed with the Packers less than a week after they added Bortles.