“I thought there was a slim, slim possibility”- Aaron Rodgers opens up about his connections with the San Francisco 49ers | NFL News

Aaron Rodgers, the former quarterback, remembered how connected he had felt to future Packers coach Mike McCarthy when he had pre-draft meetings with the San Francisco 49ers back in 2005. Despite that connection and interest by the 49ers, they went on to pick quarterback Alex Smith, enabling Rodgers to fall to Green Bay with the 24th pick in that draft.In 2021, Rodgers had seemed to wonder if a trade to San Francisco-which did end up trading for rookie Trey Lance-could happen.
Aaron Rodgers spoke about the 2021 San Francisco 49ers trade rumors

The New York Jets will open the regular season in San Francisco, bringing former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers back to Northern California. Rodgers will have a deep affinity to the area, having played college football for Cal and being in position to have interest in his services by the San Francisco 49ers twice but not adding him. As per the San Francisco Chronicle, Rodgers spoke about his pre-draft meeting with San Francisco, when the team held the number one overall pick and elected to use it on then-Utah quarterback Alex Smith.
Rodgers said, “When I went to the Niners facility I got time with Mike Nolan and Mike McCarthy separately. With Mike (McCarthy) it was great, ’cause Mike knew the West Coast Offense, so I was like totally, ‘Ah man, Bill Walsh, Paul Hackett…’ We were talking about Joe Montana cause he was with him, so it was such a fun meeting.”
He further added, “And I kinda straight-up asked him, ‘What do you think?’ And my recollection is, ‘I think we’re gonna take you’ were his words. It’s been 20 years; whether or not that’s what was said, who knows? Maybe I wanted it to seem like that. But when I met with Mike Nolan, I didn’t feel like there was the same type of connection I had with Mike McCarthy. So, I wasn’t super confident.”
Ian O’Connor’s Rodgers biography focuses on his freefall that took him to the Packers via the 24th pick in 2005. Rodgers said his meeting with McCarthy, who would later be named the head coach of the Packers, was the best of his pre-draft cycle. Rodgers shot down any insinuation of a trade to the 49ers in 2021 with Silver. San Francisco had just won 6-10 after a successful season where he threw 25 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The 49ers traded up for rookie quarterback Trey Lance, leading to Brock Purdy, after the Packers failed to convince them to send Rodgers, who had just won his third NFL MVP.
“I thought there was a slim, slim possibility,” he said. “I just didn’t really ever think the Packers would trade me within the conference. There seemed to be some kismet (as) in ’05, with me being from Northern California, and San Fran. And as much as it seemed like not the front end of my career, but now the twilight of my career, going back home to my childhood team would have been some fated circumstance, it never really felt like it was gonna be a reality.”