| Aaron Rodgers wasn’t necessarily wrong when he spoke about a “beautiful mystery” 13 months ago, he was just a little early. For while Rodgers’ situation last summer didn’t quite turn into the ongoing drama many predicted – he missed some team activities then reported for duty at the last moment – this NFL offseason seems primed for all kinds of soap operas involving numerous players. Some of the plotlines intertwined, some standalone. But across the NFL, there is a delicious state of uncertainty, particularly about the QB position, a state of flux caused in no small part by the retirements of Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger and the needs at the most key position created by their departures. And yet, even that can’t necessarily be taken at face value. We can safely assume that Big Ben won’t be suiting up in a pro uniform again but, just two weeks after Brady’s sign-off was completed, everyone is talking more of a possible return than about what he’ll do with his newfound spare time. All it took was for the 44-year-old to use some vaguely non-committal language on his “Let’s Go!” podcast and there it was, off and running, the rumor mill churning into life once more. But that’s how it is during the offseason, that strange period when American sporting life goes from all football to no football in the blink of an eye and it throws everything for a loop. Fortunately for fans, it’s not a complete lack of football this spring as the new United States Football League is set to kick off on April 16. But when the summer rolls around, the need for NFL information is so great that we begin to peer at things through a different lens; guessing, parsing, sleuthing and convincing ourselves that two plus two equals, well, whatever we most want it to. We go from the Super Bowl, where literally every player from both teams gives their thoughts after the game and those comments are disseminated far and wide, to a time when no one says much of anything because they’re away from their teams and on a beach, in the gym, learning to crochet or doing whatever else people with plenty of time and plenty of money like to do. So, to fill the void we start to look at things like social media activity and peer through the keyhole at what certain actions might mean. Like when Kyler Murray, within hours of the Pro Bowl, stripped his Instagram account of all but two posts, one in an Oklahoma uniform, and unfollowed his current employer, the Arizona Cardinals. That move sent the circle of theorizing a-spinning over the next few days, even during Super Bowl weekend. When Murray did address the matter, it did little to quiet the idea that he’s not happy in Arizona, nor the suggestion that the process toward a new contract isn’t exactly going smoothly. “All this nonsense is not what I’m about, never has been, never will be,” Murray wrote on Instagram. “Anyone who has ever stepped between those lines with me knows how hard I go.” Far beyond Seattle, Russell Wilson’s future is going to be a hot topic in the barren weeks and months until the NFL cranks back up again, with no guarantees that he’ll be back with the Seahawks. Brady’s old spot in Tampa Bay would seem to be one potential landing spot as Wilson reportedly weighs his options and considers whether the turf is greener elsewhere, following nearly a decade in Seattle. There is a lot to play out before we get there and any time there is a potential divorce between a franchise and a player who has been such an integral part of it, it is going to be a talking point all through the summer. There are retirement possibilities, with Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl hero Aaron Donald thought to be mulling that option. And there are supporting actors like Jimmy Garoppolo, who will be on the move somewhere but first must probably wait to see how the cards fall in various places. With Garoppolo, if form holds, he will likely end up as part of some situation with twists and layers to it. And then, of course, there is still Rodgers, whose mystery is no longer at “Death on the Nile” status but is still real and present, even as discussions about a new contract filter down. After an MVP season, albeit followed by yet another postseason letdown, it seems likeliest that Rodgers will be back at Lambeau Field next season, but there are salary cap issues to wrangle. As always, we will have to wait and see. It is the time of year when some of the biggest names in the game don’t talk much but get talked about a lot. By default, the league is going to look different by the time the NFL begins again. Just how different depends on how the summer shakes out, and how the cliffhangers are resolved in the NFL’s juiciest dramas. |
