Aaron Rodgers remains upset the Packers cut Jake Kumerow

[Billy Buffalo]

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When the Packers cut Jake Kumerow before the start of the 2020 season, we noted that it came just a day after Aaron Rodgers referred to Kumerow as a lock to make the roster. But we didn’t expect that seemingly minor roster transaction to continue to reverberate the way it has.

In fact, there have been multiple reports this week that Rodgers remains upset that the Packers cut Kumerow, and that the roster move is one of the main reasons Rodgers is so bitter toward General Manager Brian Gutekunst that he no longer wants to play for the Packers.

Rodgers hinted in November that he was still upset by Kumerow getting cut, saying that he wouldn’t weigh in on the Packers’ personnel because the last time the last time he did, the teammate he praised ended up in Buffalo. After the Packers got rid of Kumerow, the Bills picked him up.

In fairness to Gutekunst, he’s far from the only NFL GM who doesn’t think much of Kumerow. After all, Kumerow spent most of the season on the Bills’ practice squad, not their active roster, and in January he passed through waivers unclaimed. Kumerow is back with the Bills now, but he’s no lock to make their roster in 2021. Kumerow is a wide receiver who has never caught more than 12 passes in a season. Gutekunst cutting Kumerow is hardly akin to Bill O’Brien trading DeAndre Hopkins away.

But Rodgers liked Kumerow, and Rodgers felt he had earned the right to have the Packers consider his feelings when deciding who he’d be throwing to — just as the Buccaneers made Tom Brady happy by acquiring Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown. Rodgers didn’t get that kind of consideration, and he’s not happy about it.