Tiki Barber isn’t so sure Aaron Rodgers would make it here.
On his customary spot on “The Pat McAfee Show” earlier this week, Rodgers asserted his belief that top NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter had no insight into him or his inner circle. Rapoport had reported what wound up being the incorrect date for the start of Rodgers’ darkness retreat, and Schefter reported that both the Packers and Rodgers are aware a trade of the quarterback is a very real possibility this offseason.
Responding to that segment on WFAN’s “Tiki and Tierney,” Barber believed this sensitivity on Rodgers’ part would not portend well to life in the Big Apple should the QB get traded to the Jets.
“Ian’s job is to source information about things that are going on in the NFL world,” Barber said. “Earlier this week, Aaron Rodgers took some real shots at Ian Rapoport, basically saying, ‘He doesn’t know anyone in my inner circle, he doesn’t have my number … basically shut the hell up Ian.’
“As I’m reading the full quotes from his Pat McAfee weekly appearance, talking about Schefter and Rapoport … It just made me start to realize that if he is that sensitive that he gets upset that people, reporters, opinion-makers, influencers — whatever — want to talk about him, he is going to struggle in New York. I don’t know if I want him in New York if this is going to be his reaction to things that don’t matter.”
The 38-year-old Rodgers has been linked to the quarterback-needy Jets this offseason; Joe Namath was an early advocate of the idea and even offered to let Rodgers wear his long-retired number 12. The Jets, who hired former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett for the same role, have reportedly reached out to the Packers to gauge their interest in a trade.
“If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want people talking about him, his offseason, his personal life and all these things that are going on with him, he needs to stop talking,” the former Giants running back continued.
“When you go and you’re doing something that feels odd to normal society, which is going to sit in a cabin in the woods for four days in complete isolation, we’re gonna talk about it! We have to! It’s our job to!” Barber exclaimed. “For him to get offended by it, he’s not going to handle the intensity of the New York media-scape — traditional media, social, everything else — if he’s here. I don’t know if I want him here. Because it’s going to turn to a quick pain in the ass if Aaron Rodgers’ skin is that shallow that he’s taking shots at Ian Rapoport!”
It remains uncertain whether Rodgers will seek a trade, return to the Packers or retire — which would be a big long-shot — after he emerges from his darkness retreat.