The NFL world was shocked to learn that Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons had been traded to the Green Bay Packers. Rarely do we ever see superstar players in the prime of their career get sent packing, and Parsons is a player perennially in the Defensive Player of the Year race. But there's a Pittsburgh Steelers player who has an even bigger gripe than Cowboys fans right now.
Aaron Rodgers spent 18 seasons with the Packers. The former first-round pick in 2005 had to bide his time for three years on the bench behind Brett Favre before stringing together a Hall of Fame resume.
But the Packers just did something for quarterback Jordan Love that they never did for Rodgers in the nearly two decades he played in Green Bay—they made a blockbuster move to improve the roster.
The Packers have always been a team that has valued drafting and developing players. However, the front office never went out of its way to select a wide receiver in the first round for Rodgers, let alone make a trade that would help their Super Bowl odds.
Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers has every right to be upset with the Green Bay Packers
Now Rodgers has to watch the team he spent 18 years with make a once-in-a-generation trade to improve its roster. Where was this when he was in town?
Despite proving to be one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, Rodgers led his team to just one Lombardi Trophy when the Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. If Green Bay had gone out of its way to offer more help, who knows what type of additional success the Packers could have had?
Players like Micah Parsons simply don't become available... like, ever. So Aaron Rodgers understands that the Packers couldn't have made such a blockbuster move when he was on the team.
Still, it feels like a slap in the face that Green Bay waited to draft a receiver in the first round (Matthew Golden) and made a trade for one of the best non-quarterbacks in the league after Rodgers is no longer with the team.