The 49ers can cross Aaron Rodgers off their offseason wish list — if they ever considered adding him in the first place.
The former Cal quarterback cracked a smile Thursday during a hole-in-one challenge at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am when he was asked if he wanted to break any news to a nationwide TV audience.
“I’m not going to San Fran,” said the 39-year-old Rodgers, who is weighing his future with the Green Bay Packers.
And with that, he killed any rumors before they really began. He took his swing and landed a nice shot, but didn’t hit the bottom of the cup.
The 49ers, who have Trey Lance and Brock Purdy on rookie-scale contracts, seemed quite unlikely to pursue Rodgers via trade with Green Bay. Rodgers is set to be paid more than $59 million next season, with a cap hit of $31.6 million, per Spotrac.com. San Francisco would surely prefer to play either of its young quarterbacks on cheap deals, rather than tying itself to Rodgers in his age-40 season, even if his struggles in 2022 followed two MVP campaigns.
Additionally, they’d have to trade assets to the NFC rival Packers for the right to pay Rodgers, so the feeling is mutual.
“I know we have two starters on our team right now I think we can win with,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday at the 49ers’ season-wrapup press conference. “When you have that situation, you’re not that eager to go looking around.”
Rodgers isn’t the first Northern California native or MVP quarterback to take his name out of the running for the 49ers this week, nor is he the first such person to call the city by a name loathed by locals.
Tom Brady, who announced his retirement Wednesday, said on his Let’s Go podcast this week in breaking down the NFC Championship Game:
“Obviously San Fran had really no chance to compete yesterday. That was tough just see that happen, and at the same time it’s the reality of the sport. So Philly deserved it. They had an incredible season. They played well on defense. They forced that pass and the injury to Brock Purdy on his elbow. It’s truly part of the sport. It’s a contact sport and that’s why it’s a demolition derby.”
Both quarterbacks have said they felt spurned by the 49ers, their childhood team, for passing over them in the draft. Maybe this was just Rodgers’ way of getting back, with a smile.
