Some dismissed the social-media effort by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, receiver Randall Cobb, and tackle David Bakhtiari to bring back linebacker Clay Matthews as a joke, or more specifically as a precursor to a one-day retirement contract.
It’s not. Per a league source, there has been no conversation regarding a one-day, walk-away deal between the Packers and Matthews.
Rodgers, Cobb, and Bakhtiari did what they did because they want Matthews back on the team, we’re told. Matthews, who didn’t play in 2020, hasn’t ruled out playing in 2021. It’s believed that he would be receptive to the possibility of returning to the Packers. It’s also believed that he’s been receptive to playing for the Packers since the moment he was cut by the Rams last year.
If there’s any tongue-in-cheek quality to the effort, it comes from the fact that Rodgers and the other Packers players know the front office won’t do it. Which serves only to make the quarterback’s strained relationship with the front office a little more awkward, since the powers-that-be surely would prefer not being publicly pressured to do something they don’t intend to do.