Coach clarifies pursuit of Packers star QB Rodgers
Kyle Shanahan made the actual call.
Not only on drafting quarterback Trey Lance to the 49ers, but also on possibly trading for Aaron Rodgers, instead.
Shanahan clarified Monday exactly how the 49ers investigated whether Rodgers, the reigning NFL MVP and a Northern California native, was available before the draft.
“The exact truth is I didn’t want to wake up the next day on Friday and see Aaron Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks in this league, traded, without doing any due diligence on it,” Shanahan said on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “So I just called Matt and asked him if there was anything to it.”
Matt LaFleur, the Packers’
coach, previously worked on coaching staffs with Shanahan in Houston, Washington and Atlanta. On Thursday, they wouldn’t be working together on a blockbuster trade.
“Matt told me I’d be wasting my time if we had Lynch call,” Shanahan said, referring to 49ers general manager John Lynch calling Packers’ counterpart Brian Gutekunst. “And so Lynch did not call anyone the next day. But, yeah, I reached out to Matt the night before.”
“He gave me a very quick answer, so I didn’t even tell John (to call Gutekunst). So I think it worked out, I guess. We were happy to get our guy and hopefully it will work out for them.”
After the 49ers drafted Lance on Thursday, Lynch confirmed that day’s hot rumor, about the 49ers possibly chasing Rodgers 16 years after the Cal product and Chico native was bypassed by the 49ers for Alex Smith with the No. 1 overall pick.
“You’re talking about the MVP of our league last year,” Lynch said Thursday. “I don’t know about you guys but when the MVP of the league might be available — and I didn’t know that, I’m just reading the tea leaves like everybody else and saying, ‘Hold on is something going on here?’
“Yeah, we inquired,” Lynch added. “And it was a quick end to the conversation. It wasn’t happening.”
Ever since then, multiple reports indicate Rodgers is fed up with the Packers, and, specifically Gutekunst, Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson reported. Trey Wingo, who worked Fox Sports’ digital draft coverage, reported Thursday that Rodgers was convinced he was being traded to the 49ers.
Rodgers reportedly has threatened to retire rather than return to the Packers, who have unsuccessfully attempted to sign him to a contract extension.