If there is one thing Aaron Rodgers is always good for these days, it is hurling the odd and inexplicable stray at the Chicago Bears organization and its fans.
It has been nearly two full years since the Green Bay Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets, but the 41-year-old quarterback simply can’t help himself when the opportunity to make a barb at the Bears comes along.
Those opportunities present themselves relatively frequently now, as Rodgers is a paid weekly guest on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.” Rodgers made his latest dig at Chicago’s expense in his most recent appearance on that program, which came Monday, December 23.
“The point is, over the years when they would hire new coaches in Chicago, at the introductory press conference they always said, ‘We wanna win a Super Bowl and we wanna beat Green Bay,'” Rodgers said. “Now, we didn’t have as many coaching changes over that time … but I don’t think that Mike McCarthy or Matt LaFleur came in and made that a point to say that, ‘Hey, you know, we gotta beat Chicago.’ It was kind of an understanding for a while there over the years that there was a good chance we were gonna sweep them every year.”
Aaron Rodgers Isn’t Wrong About Packers’ Dominance Over Bears
GettyNew York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers went on to acknowledge that, of course, Green Bay didn’t sweep Chicago every season. But the point was that the Packers were dominant in their matchups against the Bears during the Rodgers era, which is factually accurate and fair to point out.
That said, as often as Rodgers dwells in the past when it comes to bullying the Bears at Lambeau and Soldier Field across a 15-year run, it makes one wonder if he isn’t doing so because the present in New York has been so disillusioning.
Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury on the Jets’ first offensive drive of the 2023 campaign and missed the remainder of the year. He returned in 2024 to high expectations, though New York currently has as many victories as Chicago after Week 14 — only four. The Bears are on a nine-game losing streak and counting, while the Jets had a 1-9 stretch across 10 games earlier this year.
For the first time in Rodgers’ career, he is truly getting a taste of what it’s like to struggle in a league where winning is always tough to come by, which can’t be easy for a four-time MVP and former Super Bowl champion with 152 regular season wins on his career resumé.
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GettyNew York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
As annoying as some Bears fans might find Rodgers’ constant big brother/bully profile, it isn’t something unfamiliar in Chicago. And the best notion to lean on is that there is reason for optimism in the future.
Rookie QB Caleb Williams has had his struggles, but he’s also shown flashes of legitimate star talent. The Bears are on the cusp of hiring a new head coach, and if they go with an offensive-minded personality who knows how to develop quarterbacks — like coordinator Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions, perhaps, who has openly admitted intrigue about the job — big leaps for the young signal caller could be on the immediate horizon.
Chicago’s front office also put the cart before the horse a bit over the offseason, acquiring a great deal of skill talent around Williams but choosing to build outside-in, which has left the team with one of the most porous offensive lines in the league. The Bears will undoubtedly address those weaknesses in both the coming draft and free agency, which could change drastically how things look in 2025.
Rodgers, on the other hand, will be entering his age-42 season and there is no clear indication that the Jets are interested in bringing him back for the final year of his contract.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson recently took a shot at Rodgers publicly, following weeks of the quarterback doing plenty of public finger pointing of his own. Jets owner Woody Johnson is also reportedly affording his teenage sons and Madden ratings influence over major team decisions and creating among the more dysfunctional environments in the league, all of which could mean that Rodgers will be hunting for new job come March.
