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NFL Insider Mike Florio Says Indianapolis Colts are the Best Fit for Aaron Rodgers: ‘They’re Clearly Done With Carson Wentz’
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished01 Mar 2022
If Aaron Rodgers is going to make a timely decision on his future, his announcement should be coming soon. While unconfirmed reports have him working on a new contract with the Green Bay Packers, it’s still possible he asks out. If he does, NFL insider Mike Florio believes that the Indianapolis Colts are his best option.
Aaron Rodgers’ decision should be coming any day now
At the end of the 2021 NFL season, Aaron Rodgers pledged to let the Green Bay Packers (and the rest of the NFL) know about his plans for 2022 before free agency got underway. When Rodgers initially told Pat McAfee that he’d decide his future much faster this season than last, he pointed to “late February” as a target.
Well, that window has come and gone.
We are now just about a week from the franchise tag deadline (March 8) and two weeks from free agency officially opening (March 14). This means the Rodgers decision should be incredibly close if the QB keeps his word.
If he does leave, many NFL teams would love to have the NFL’s back-to-back MVP winner. Of those teams that want Rodgers, there are several that the QB would likely find appealing due to the strength of the roster, tradition, and location.
While it seems like that last piece — location — will figure into the mercurial signal-callers plans, there is one place that might not be the sexiest location. However, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, may be the best fit.
And the good news for Rodgers is, that organization is “done” with its current QB.
Mike Florio says the Indianapolis Colts are the best destination for the Green Bay passer
PFT’s Mike Florio Joined the Rich Eisen Show to discuss the goings-on in the NFL, particularly pertaining to the league’s preeminent position: Quarterback.
After discussing Kyler Murry and the 2022 “quarterback carousel,” Florio noted that that carousel won’t truly start before Aaron Rodgers makes his decision.
“I think the entire quarterback carousel hinges on him,” Florio told Eisen. “Everyone’s going to wait and see what happens with Rodgers before some of these [QB] deals get done.”
The NFL insider moved on to Russell Wilson and what some quarterback-needy teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, and Pittsburgh Steelers are going to do at the position. With the mention of those teams, the conversation turned back to Rodgers. Florio shared that his ideal fit for the former Cal Bear isn’t on that list:
The Colts intrigue me. I don’t know whether Aaron Rodgers is interested in the Colts, but they’re clearly done with Carson Wentz. And Rodgers is 0-2 lifetime at Indy, so he knows it’s hard to win at that building. You play all your games in a dome. You don’t have to worry about the cold and the wind and the rain. If they can pull it off, that would be something.
Mike Florio on Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz
So, if the Colts can upgrade from Wentz to Rodgers, is that the best fit for the QB?
Pros and cons of Rodgers going to the Indianapolis Colts
There is no argument that the Indianapolis Colts won’t be better off with Aaron Rodgers than Carson Wentz. Yes, they will have to pay Rodgers nearly double Wentz’s $28 million salary next year. The team has the eighth-most cap room in the NFL, though, so they can afford it.
The question is, are the Colts the best fit for Rodgers?
The pros of Rodgers picking Indy is that they were (basically) a playoff team last season. That is, if they didn’t choke in the Week 18 game vs. the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. The team features a good offensive line (No. 12 in PFF’s final grades), one of the best running backs in the league in Jonathan Taylor, the No. 9 scoring defense in the league, and a decent WR corp with the potential to go out and get a big pass-catcher in free agency.
Leaving out the fact that Rodgers might only want to play for a bigger market team than the Colts, there is only one major con to the QB heading to Indy. It’s a problem that he will face with almost any franchise that the Packers are willing to trade him to.
The Colts are in the AFC.
With Tom Brady’s departure, the only truly scary teams in the NFC next season are the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and San Francisco 49ers. And are they really that scary?
The AFC is shaping up to be an incredible gauntlet in 2022, with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers, and Cincinnati Bengals all fighting for a single Super Bowl slot.
As good as Rodgers might make the Indianapolis Colts, staying in Green Bay gives the 38-year-old a much easier path to the Big Game in 2023.
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