Aaron Rodgers isn't concerned. That is true whether it's his belief in the Green Bay Packers' ability to drive further into the playoffs in the second season under head coach Matt LaFleur, or when it comes to those saying the team should begin looking to the future at the quarterback position. While nobody's attempting to put Rodgers out to pasture just yet, the reality is he'll be 37 before the conclusion of the 2020 season.

The former Super Bowl MVP isn't naive to that fact.

"I'm a realist," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "I know where we're at as an organization, and I know where I'm at in my career."

And there it is. Rodgers has no issue with thoughts of looking forward, but he wants the Packers to know something. Should LaFleur and Green Bay decide to select a quarterback early in the 2020 NFL Draft, the rookie won't see the field anytime soon -- if Rodgers and his production have any say in the matter.

"No matter who you bring in, they're not going to be able to beat me out anytime soon," he said.

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Brett Hundley couldn't do it, true enough, but there's often a difference between a fifth-round pick and one grabbed in the first round.

It's a rather definitive (and justified) proclamation on just how much longer Rodgers views himself as a top-tier quarterback, and the obvious irony lies in how similar a stance his is now to what Brett Favre's was in yesteryear. Favre was an eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro coming off a 4,088-yard, 30-touchdown season (to 17 interceptions) when the Packers began peeking toward the future -- going on to select Rodgers with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Currently, Rodgers is an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, making for some eerie similarities that extend beyond the obvious.

Favre felt invincible at the time, despite the presence of Rodgers. After all, he never logged a losing season prior to 2005, and showed no signs of a steep decline. The same is true of a now-healthy Rodgers, who went 13-3 in 2019 with a 4,002-yard, 26-touchdown season to only four interceptions.

To Rodgers' point, in a way, it did take him three seasons of sitting behind a future Hall of Famer in Favre before he was finally passed the torch. And if a premium pick is used in 2020 on a rookie who can't beat him out until 2023, Rodgers will have been proven correct, in hindsight. This is the NFL, however, and anything can happen at any time to change the plans of both a player and the team they play for, which is yet another point proven in the infamous Favre-Packers split.

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Just as no one could've ever pictured Favre playing for the rival Vikings, Rodgers can't imagine himself being beat out in the next couple of years by an upstart, nor is he supposed to have the capability of imagining it -- being the competitor he is.



But while it's fair to view it as unlikely, it's improper to view it as impossible, and the "realist" in Rodgers knows that as well.