49ers rumors: NFL insider closes door on Aaron Rodgers chatter

While Aaron Rodgers appears destined for the Jets, the 49ers seem to be a dark-horse candidate. Except they aren’t, according to a well-known insider.

There are plenty of well-respected names who cover the San Francisco 49ers.

Few hold the clout and respect as much as NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco (we’re not sucking up to you, Matt… seriously, we’re not).

While there are plenty of local and national insiders who have their Niners sources, few other than Maiocco have a truly solid pulse on the team and what it’s doing.

Or what it isn’t doing.

In this case, San Francisco isn’t going to be budging on still-Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers despite the talk about some sort of 11th-hour pickup by the red and gold.

For now, of course, the New York Jets remain the favorite to land Rodgers, except Green Bay hasn’t signed off on the deal and continues to delay the transaction. And, as Maiocco himself pointed out, any delays are only going to fuel the rumor mill.

One of which involved the 49ers jumping in and grabbing Rodgers.

Maiocco isn’t buying it.

Matt Maiocco says ‘not likely’ when discussing 49ers trading for Aaron Rodgers

Sure, anything is possible. Niners general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan regularly joke about trading each other if the compensation was good enough.

But, when weighing the reality of Green Bay trading Rodgers to San Francisco, Maiocco offered up the following response:

"That’s not likely.There are multiple factors that would suggest the 49ers are not interested in paying the price of doing business with Rodgers and the Packers.First, Rodgers’ contract calls for him to make $59.5 million in guaranteed money this season.The 49ers are near the bottom of the NFL in salary cap space with just $3.839 million available, per the NFL players union. …Per reports, the Packers are looking for a first-round draft pick from the Jets to complete the trade. The Jets have not budged. Of course, a first-round pick is not an option for the 49ers, who do not have a first- or second-round selection in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft."

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The 49ers can’t do it because they’d have to absorb a massive amount of cash they don’t have by trading away NFL Draft capital they don’t possess.

Sometimes, the simplest answer is the most accurate one.

Maiocco belives it to be.