John Kuhn, Former Green Bay Packers Fullback

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Let's go out to our Aaron Rodgers expert because whenever we have a question about Aaron Rodgers, we go to one man and one man only and that's someone that knows Aaron Rodgers pretty damn well and did play on the same team with him in Green Bay from 2007 to 2015 and that is the Super Bowl champion, the three-time Pro Bowler and a good friend of our show in John Coon. John, how you been? Oh, I'm doing great, Zach. Aaron Rodgers expert.

Well, that might be a bit heavy there of a push, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I'll say this. The last two years that we've had you on to talk about this because this story never goes away, you've remained pretty positive and I've been pretty positive that Rodgers would be back in Green Bay. This year it feels different and yesterday I said I'm starting to think that Rodgers is going to get dealt this offseason.

Where do you sit on this one this year? Yeah, I remember two years ago very vividly you and I starting a little bit of a twister here, a sports world twister when we started making our predictions of Aaron Rodgers. Will he, will he not be back in a Packers uniform?

And I agree with you, Zach. We felt very strongly then he was coming back. We felt strongly last year he was coming back after a second MVP. This year feels a lot different and for a multitude of different reasons, and you could go down a whole slate of reasons why if Aaron Rodgers is not back as the Green Bay Packers starting quarterback next year, it would make sense. But I think most importantly, you look at the season that they just had and you ask yourself the simple question, is this Green Bay Packer team closer to a Super Bowl than what it was a year ago? Is it further away from a Super Bowl than it was a year ago? I think the answer is clearly further away and I think it's more than just bringing Aaron Rodgers back that can get the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl. I think it's going to take a lot of pieces here in Green Bay and I don't know if that's the time or the effort or the energy Aaron Rodgers wants to put into, you know, what would be a 19th season. It feels like right now we're in a good old-fashioned staring contest where I think Rodgers would be fine with leaving and the Packers would be fine with trading him, but they just want to see who's going to say it first. Oh yeah, you definitely get the feeling. You know, the other thing too, Zach, is you can kind of feel a tone within the, you know, kind of gestures that Aaron Rodgers has made throughout this season, some of his press conferences, even afterwards and his weekly talks on McAfee, the fact that he tends to go a little bit back and forth with, you know, how much at peace he is with his situation and then if he comes back, he wants to rebuild, but then, you know, let yesterday takes back the number of guys. He doesn't need those guys to come back in order for him to be able to come back. There's definitely the elephant in the room and to some extent, you wonder if they have even had the conversation as to, yeah, if we were to trade you, where would you like to go?

Because right, that's the first step. Aaron Rodgers has pretty much veto power to not be traded somewhere that he doesn't want to go. The Green Bay Packers don't want to trade him to the NFC, so if this were something that were to go down, they obviously need to have a conversation about it first.

And I just don't know if anybody has actually breached the subject right now in your heart. Do you feel like you've seen Aaron Rodgers play his final game with the Packers? Oh, man, you know, right now I'm sitting right on the fence. I'm right on the fence because I know in my heart that Aaron Rodgers would love to retire a Green Bay Packer. I know also Aaron Rodgers would love to finish his career with another Super Bowl championship. I know the Green Bay Packers would love to win the Super Bowl championship with Aaron Rodgers, but just because they want all those things to happen doesn't mean they can all coexist.

And I just don't know if Aaron Rodgers can come back to this team and within a year or two build it back up to Super Bowl caliber. The one thing people really tend to forget is that last year when Aaron Rodgers decided he wasn't going to retire and he was going to sign that big three-year deal, three-year extension with the Green Bay Packers for $150 million, he was under the impression that Devante Adams was going to be franchise tagged and come back to Green Bay. Green Bay Packers were under the exact same impression that Devante Adams and Aaron Rodgers would be a combo deal and that the first leg of that deal was getting Aaron Rodgers to come back. When Devante Adams chose to leave, that sent quakes through the theory that Aaron Rodgers and Devante Adams were going to be here and they were just going to run it back. And you saw what kind of chemistry they had this year.

It was not the type of ball fence that we were accustomed to seeing. And I'm just not sure that Aaron Rodgers without the Devante Adams is a team that's, you know, pressing on the doorstep of a Super Bowl. Talking to John Kuhn, so we know they missed the playoffs. We know they got off to a terrible start and they almost salvaged it and they lost that game to Detroit. We all expected a little bit of regression when you lose a Devante Adams, but I don't know about you, John, I was stunned that they ended up missing the playoffs where I thought they were going to be before the year started. Yeah, they actually, the crazy thing is they started off the season better than I thought they would, Zach, at three and one.

They really did. And there was definitely a learning curve, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And the defense played well early in the season before they lost with Sean Gary. And what I mean by played well is they kept the Green Bay Packers in ball games. They kept the Packers in a ball game against the Jets. They kept the Packers in a ball game against the Washington commanders. They kept the Packers in a ball game with the New England Patriots before the Packers offense decided to turn it on in the second half. So it was one of those things where the offense never really got its legs under itself until the last month of the season. And that's about the point in time where they needed to run the table.

I'm with you. I was surprised to a certain extent how much was the broken thumb for Aaron Rodgers. Did that really play a part? We never really get a clear answer from Aaron. It said he says that it bothers him, but he doesn't say it's going to affect his play. But you got to imagine it did a little bit and that probably weighs in the back of his mind what kind of season would he have had had he not had that broken thumb. Do you think if Aaron could go back and operate these last two years differently in any way that he would do so?

Or do you think he's at peace with everything with the way that it's gone down? That's the one thing I'm sure about, Zach. The one thing I'm sure about is that Aaron Rodgers is in a really good head space right now.

What his objectives and his goals and where he's going to play next year, he's the only one that knows that. But the one thing that I do know about Aaron Rodgers is he's at peace and he's happy and he's content. And this is also why I feel more likely this year than the other years. There's a chance that he's not the Packers quarterback next year. It's because you could see him throughout the season, embracing the moment, soaking it all in, really kind of looking up at the fans, looking at the stands, really spending some extra time on the sidelines, soaking it in. You could see an introspective and Aaron Rodgers looking around, really enjoying his environment the last month of the season. And I do think all the uncertainty the last two years did kind of drive Devante Adams out. Now, you could put that blame on some of it, Rodgers, maybe more of it on the team, because even with the uncertainty of Rodgers, they should have taken care of Devante Adams a year or two ago and they let that linger. And I think Adams just had enough with it.

Yeah, I mean, Devante has been very outspoken. He wanted to go closer to home, which is the West Coast. He's Fresno State guy.

Obviously, Las Vegas is much closer. It's much easier for his family to get to the games to see his family. He now has young kids and a wife that didn't take place by the time he extended his first contract with the green or his first contract extension into a second contract.

Things have changed in his family life, and he wanted to play with his buddy. Out there, Derek Carr in Las Vegas. So all of those things kind of play a part in this. And I also believe that not knowing Aaron Rodgers, not knowing Jordan Love, not knowing who his quarterback was going to be. One thing about Devante Adams is he's also trying to stand on his two legs.

He's also trying to cement his legacy. And this year was a part of that. Being able to be first team all pro without Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. Not a whole lot of wide receivers have left Green Bay after flourishing.

Sarah Rodgers and have done the things that Devante Adams did this year away from Green Bay. John Coon, could you see a Rodgers Adams reunion if he does get traded in Las Vegas with the Raiders? You know what, Zach, when I speculate where Aaron could possibly play, if not in Green Bay, I think a couple places really make sense. I think Las Vegas is very high on that list. I think a New York Jets team is up on the list because of where they're at with some of their offensive weapons and the strong defense that they have. And I think the Miami Dolphins potentially could be on that list as well.

I know for myself, when I got later in my career and I went south to New Orleans to play, that warm weather sure felt good on the body, sure felt good on the joints. So I think that's probably something that if Aaron Rodgers does play somewhere else, he could possibly play there. But if you noticed, I said three AFC teams, I'm fairly certain about as much as I can possibly be that if the Green Bay Packers do trade Aaron Rodgers, it'll be to the AFC. Wrapping up with John Coon. So if Jordan Love is the starting quarterback next year, what could Packers fans expect out of that first round pick from a few years ago?

Well, you know, I would say go back to where we were in 2008. And I remember this very vividly. And I was talking with my old teammate, Nick Collins, today, and we were going back and forth about what it was like doing the transition from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. And Packer fans were conflicted. You know, a lot of fans really wanted Brett back and they were upset with the trade and there was a lot of scrutiny and a lot of eyeballs on Aaron Rodgers. And throughout the season of 6-10 season, which is a struggle season for the Green Bay Packers, you started getting glimpses, you started getting signs of what Aaron Rodgers could be and what Aaron Rodgers would be going into the future. So I don't know if the record, the win-loss record will be all that great if Jordan Love is the starting quarterback, but I do believe we've seen some signs out of this kid, especially this year at Philadelphia, that can show he could potentially be a good starting quarterback in the National Football League.

And I, for one, would be excited to see it. What about your former coach when you wrapped up your career in New Orleans and Sean Paden? I know he's still out there. I don't think any team has got a second interview with him yet. Do you think Sean will be back next year on the sidelines?

Because I'm starting to think maybe he's going to be back at Fox for another season. Zach, I'll tell you, I thought this would have been done weeks ago. I can't believe we're this far into the playoffs and one of these five teams haven't snatched somebody up yet. I thought Sean Paden would easily be the first one to get snatched up. Is he sitting out there waiting? Was he waiting to see what the Chargers were going to do with Staley? Was he waiting to see if something crazy shakes down with Mike McCarthy in Dallas? I don't really know why Sean Paden is not signed yet, why Sean Paden is not a head coach yet. Obviously, it's not just his say. The Saints got to accept the trade, so a team's got to pony up not just the salary that it would take to get Sean Paden, but a couple draft picks for the New Orleans Saints as well. That's it. That's a big question mark.

And to me, I'm with you. The longer this goes, you might think Sean Paden may miss out, but I know he wants to get back into it. I know he'll be a coach again someday, but just will it be this year? I know you said you're on the fence about Rogers going back to Green Bay, and it does feel different. If you had to go 51-49, do you go more 51 that he's leaving or 51 that he's staying? If you make me pick, if you make me pick, he's going to stay. He's going to stay for one more year, and it'll be one last push to try and get back into the playoffs and pull off something crazy. But Zach, just like I started this conversation, I'm going to finish this conversation. This doesn't feel like the last two years when Aaron Rogers requested a trade around the draft in 2020 and when Aaron Rogers pondered retirement before 2021.

This year feels entirely different. John Kuhn, you're the best. I appreciate it. Thank you. Always great talking with you, Zach.

Take care. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

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