Will Aaron Rodgers play until he's 45 like Tom Brady? Packers QB gives definitive answer about his long-term future

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was unsure if he was going to be playing this season. The narrative surrounding 38-year-old is that he was 50/50 between playing and retiring. He put those distractions to bed when he signed a new contract, keeping him at the Packers for the next three years.

Still clearly at the top of his game, the Packers legend could easily play as long as Tom Brady, who turned 45 years old yesterday. Aaron Rodgers was asked exactly that in the locker room and his answer was as definitive as you could get.

Rodgers said:

"No... No I don't. But happy birthday Tom."

The Packers star put his immediate playing future in the rearview window this offseason as he signed a three-year, $150.815 million contract extension. But the general consensus is that Aaron Rodgers will likely not see out his three-year deal.

Will Aaron Rodgers and the Packers struggle in the 2022 season?

The reason fans and the media think that Green Bay will struggle is due to the absence of Davante Adams. Over the last two seasons, Adams has been the focal point of the Packers offense. They traded Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.

In 2020 Adams caught 115 passes for 1,374 yards and 18 touchdowns. Last year, he caught 123 passes for 1,553 and 11 touchdowns. That is some serious production that they are missing in this campaign.

The big question is who will step up in Adams' absence? Allen Lazard has now moved up into the number one receiver role, but the 26-year-old has never had more than 40 catches in a season. His best receiving yards return was last year with just 513.

It's going to be a big jump for Lazard to and emulate Adams' numbers. The feeling is that there will be a receiving committee in Green Bay this year. Rather than relying on one man like they did with Davante Adams, they will spread the ball around.

Aaron Rodgers has Lazard, Sammy Watkins, Christian Watson (rookie), Randall Cobb, Romeo Doubs (rookie) and Robert Tonyan as his main receiving weapons. Expect running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon to be heavily used in this campaign.

Not having Adams might make the Packers a more dangerous outfit as no one knows where the ball is going. In years gone by, most defensive coordinators knew that Adams was going to get the ball and could plan around that. They can't now.

Will Aaron Rodgers be able to take this Packers team to ultimate success? Only time will tell.