Aaron Rodgers may want out of Green Bay, but one current Detroit Lions assistant — someone who knows Rodgers well — has a hard time seeing it happen.
Lions senior defensive assistant Dom Capers, who spent nine seasons as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator from 2009-17, said Thursday he thinks Rodgers and the Packers will do everything in their power “to get it to work out.”
“I’m sure that there’s no question that they want to get things worked out,” Capers said. “I would think that they’ll do everything they can to try to make things work because Aaron’s certainly been a major contributor since he started there and the way he’s playing now, he’s still playing at an extremely high level.”
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Rodgers made cryptic comments about his future in Green Bay after the season and reportedly told some in the organization that he does not want to return for 2021.
The Packers have rebuffed trade inquiries, with head coach Matt LaFleur saying earlier this month the team wants Rodgers back “in the worst way.”
“I know he knows that,” LeFleur said. “We’ll continue to work at it each and every day.”
With Rodgers at quarterback, the Packers, coming off back-to-back 13-win seasons, will be one of the favorites to win the NFC this fall. Green Bay returns top receiver Davante Adams and 1,100-yard rusher Aaron Jones, but Rodgers has hinted that they have not shown enough urgency in their pursuit of a Super Bowl in recent years.
Last year, Green Bay traded up to take quarterback Jordan Love in the draft, eschewing more pressing needs at wide receiver and on defense.
Capers won a Super Bowl with the 2011 Packers and twice saw Rodgers win MVP awards. He said he marveled at Rodgers every day in practice.
“My experience obviously with Aaron was a very positive one,” Capers said. “I was there for nine years and of course eight straight playoff years. We had started 4-1 my last year there and Aaron went down, and we had a hard time winning a game after that. I think he’s one of the all-time bests. I was (there) for nine years on the practice field with him and would walk off every day where he’d make a throw and you’d say, ‘boy, we have a guy in perfect coverage position.’ He put it on the off-side shoulder, and just felt that he was the best that I’d been around.”
Asked how he thought Rodgers situation would get resolved, Capers said, “Who knows?”
“But I would think both sides would do everything they could to try to get it to work out,” he said. “I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but like I say, during my time there I know how valuable he was to the franchise at that point in time.”
Briefly
The Lions officially signed first-round pick Penei Sewell to a four-year contract Thursday. Sewell’s deal includes a slotted signing bonus of about $14.9 million.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.