Aaron Rodgers can't guarantee post-retirement return to Green Bay, hints at lingering tension with 'certain people in the building'

Aaron Rodgers is entering his fourth season away from the Green Bay Packers . He faced them last season; however, that game took place in Pittsburgh , where he's now going into Year 2 as the Steelers ' QB1 and Year 22 as an NFL signal-caller.

Rodgers is on the record saying 2026 will be his final season in the league, and the Steelers don't have the Packers on the regular-season docket this time around.

But what about a post-retirement return to Green Bay for Rodgers? After all, despite the tense ending to his illustrious 18-season tenure with the organization, he won the Packers their most recent Super Bowl during the 2010 season and collected NFL MVP honors in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021.

Rodgers, though, can't guarantee a reunion right now. He conveyed that uncertainty during a "Wilde and Tausch" interview that aired Thursday on ESPN Milwaukee/Madison radio.

A month after Rodgers said he'd need an invitation before making his way back to Lambeau Field in a non-playing capacity , he was asked if he has any reason to doubt that the Packers would invite him to Green Bay.

"I think there's some people that have a lot of affection for me, and I would assume, we're talking four or five years from now, that there'll be fans who still have appreciation for what I've done, especially after so much time has passed," Rodgers said.

"But I think there's certain people in the building who wouldn't be totally on board, and maybe I wouldn't be on board if they were still there as well."

It's unclear who exactly Rodgers meant by "certain people in the building."

That said, earlier in the interview, Rodgers expressed dissatisfaction regarding one individual. He did so while reflecting on his final chapter with the Packers.

Eerily similar to how Green Bay grabbed Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 draft to eventually supplant a veteran Brett Favre, the franchise scooped up Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft with the intention of someday replacing Rodgers.

Rodgers promptly won back-to-back MVP awards under head coach Matt LaFleur, extending his time in Green Bay before regressing during an injury-riddled 2022 season, his final go-around with the Packers.

Jason Wilde inquired during the exclusive interview to see if there's anything Rodgers thinks he could have done differently in that 2022 campaign, aside from avoiding a broken thumb in London amid a Week 5 loss to the New York Giants .

"Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's definitely some things that I could have done obviously to make those guys a little more comfortable, I guess," Rodgers said in reference to the young wide receivers the Packers ushered in that year.

"But the GM wanted me out of there, so it was only a matter of time. They just were looking for one non-MVP season, and that was going to be that. I understand it. Didn't necessarily agree with it, but I understand."

Rodgers added: "I just didn't like the way it was handled, and obviously I could have probably handled it better but, on the flip side, probably made it a little bit easier for Jordan."

The general manager Rodgers spoke of in that quote is Brian Gutekunst. He took over for Ted Thompson in 2018 and has maintained the role of GM since, pulling the trigger to take Love in his third draft calling the shots.

"Honestly, it really made me know that the end was going to come at some point, probably before I wanted it to, in Green Bay," Rodgers said of the Packers selecting Love. "I always talked about playing my entire career there, like Kobe Bryant [with the Los Angeles Lakers], Tim Duncan [with the San Antonio Spurs], the Derek Jeters [who played for the New York Yankees], some iconic players. And I realized at that point that I was probably going to have to play somewhere else, at least a year or two.

"But I've always felt like you can bring almost anybody in, and I'd love to compete with them. I haven't seen anybody that's been clearly better than me in the quarterback room since 2007."

There appeared to be a strain on Rodgers' relationship with Gutekunst down the stretch of his stay in Green Bay, including when Rodgers skipped the team's 2021 offseason program and then voiced his desire to be more involved in franchise decisions.

Even so, it's worth noting that, according to ESPN , Gutekunst said on "The Rich Eisen Show" last year that he roots for Rodgers and added that "there's so much appreciation for him from our organization and from myself."