Aaron Rodgers is back in Green Bay, proving full player-power doesn't exist

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

It takes a rare level of celebrity to be worthy of the full "peer through the fence" treatment, the type where local television news cameras can justify spending hours waiting around in the hope of a glimpse of someone emerging from an airplane.

It doesn’t happen a lot in sports but it happened with Aaron Rodgers on Monday night, the touchdown (lol) in Eastern Wisconsin of a private plane – immediately dubbed Aaron Force 1 – giving the patient crews the footage they were looking for.

The headline wrote itself. Rodgers was back in town. The MVP had landed. After a multi-month standoff with the Green Bay Packers, he had arrived at training camp.

Clearly, there are few athletes capable of generating so much attention and even fewer embroiled in such a fractured (and honestly, fascinating) situation as Rodgers, to the point where his every comment, gesture and even tone of voice is scrutinized – and the simple act of turning up in the city of his work is a prime clip for the nightly bulletin.

Yet while the whole ongoing saga regarding the superstar QB and his place of employment has reminded us that when it comes to throwing a football there have been few who can do it so well, it hasn’t translated into the kind of player-power muscle-flexing that might have been expected.

Because, hang on a minute, wasn’t this supposed to be the era where the players hold all the cards and possess the ability to have their franchise bend to each and every whim?

Not so here. According to reports, the basis for a fresh agreement with the Packers is in place. The new gig? Rodgers will play for the Packers this season, under the general understanding that he’ll depart following it. The final year of his ongoing contract, 2023, would be voided, but he would remain signed up through 2022, which essentially means Green Bay would be able to command some kind of trade piece in exchange for waving goodbye.

Win-win? Sure, but the Packers’ win seems to be a little bigger, especially given how bleak things looked at times since the end of last season, when Rodgers described his future as a beautiful mystery.

Green Bay gets the reigning MVP just months after the best season of his career, when he threw 48 touchdowns passes and just five interceptions. The organization also enjoys a situation where heir apparent Jordan Love has an additional year to sit, watch and learn.

And then, right at the time when they were looking to move on from Rodgers, they’ll get some value in return. Maybe not a ton of trade commodity, given that everyone knows Rodgers is destined to depart, but surely a decent piece of capital, especially if a few teams that he’d wish to move to get involved in the action.

Rodgers will get more money in the short term, but Green Bay will gain salary cap flexibility.

So … full player-power, not so much. Rodgers wanted out already and he’s not getting it. All kinds of destinations, mostly on or toward the West Coast, were mooted. But no, he’s not going anywhere, not yet anyway. Similarly, early in the summer, there was talk of Russell Wilson pushing his way out of Seattle, and a lot of noise about Deshaun Watson willing to do anything to extract himself from Houston. Neither has happened and now that August is looming, it’s very unclear if either will.

Of all of the QB situations, however, it is the Rodgers' that may give some pause for thought for unsettled signal-callers in future offseasons.

Rodgers has been angry. He felt slighted. He’s one of the most influential players in the league, but it still wasn’t enough to dominate the tug-of-war with the team. He’s back in Green Bay despite all the acrimony, all his dissatisfaction with how the franchise handles itself internally.

On Tuesday morning, wearing a comedy T-shirt from "The Office," he strolled into training camp. We will see what comes next. He’ll likely secure some assurance from Green Bay about how things are run and how communication is handled, and don’t be shocked if receiving pal Randall Cobb gets added to the roster.

Whatever. All the Packers care about is that he’s there, whatever reservations he has, his presence conferring another year of gunning for a Super Bowl, following last season’s run to the NFC Championship game.

"Were it about money, adding future guarantees, bumping up his salary etc., it would have been resolved in a day," former Packers vice president Andrew Brandt wrote on SI.com. "It seemed personal, an accumulation of disrespect."

Certainly, if the Packers are to keep Rodgers content, motivated and unencumbered, they’ll want things to be as harmonious as possible during the "Last Dance" campaign. That’s not my analogy by the way, Rodgers and favorite receiver pal Davante Adams simultaneously posted a Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen photo on social media a couple of days ago, and the message was clear. One more run at it. For our own sake, not for the front office.

"(G.M.) Brian Gutekunst has to meet Aaron Rodgers at every single touchpoint," former All-Pro Brandon Marshall said on "First Things First."  "He needs to be there to valet his car. He goes into the cafeteria. ‘Hey Mr. Rodgers, here’s your egg white omelette, and we know you like avocado on the side.’"

But Green Bay can be deferential. They can make exceptions. They can listen to Rodgers on potential trade targets. They can afford to bend over backward, because ultimately, they are making out well from this. They can nod and smile for a year, whatever it takes to get another contending run out of a generational player who might have walked out the door.

Rodgers has landed in an agreement that he can live with, but it’s not all he wanted. He gets some sense of satisfaction at having leveraged his position, but that’s all, because – despite what we thought – that’s as far as player-power truly goes.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.