The final photo posted by Aaron Rodgers sends a…

Aaron Rodgers is widely regarded as smart. Very smart. As a result, nothing he does should be shrugged off as accidental or coincidental.

He’s smart enough to craft a deliberately vague social-media post at a time when he has said, plainly and clearly, that he’s contemplating his football future. He’s also smart enough to attach to the message photos that send their own message.

Nine photos accompany that message. Rodgers appears in eight of them. He’s not in the last photo. Instead, the image shows receivers Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, with an empty space between them. That’s the spot where Rodgers stands during the national anthem (as the photo attached to this post illustrates). The last Rodgers photo comes from the game at Kansas City, the one that Rodgers missed after testing positive for COVID-19 — and after he faced withering criticism for lying to the media (and in turn the public) about being vaccinated (“yeah, I’ve been immunized”).

Aaron Rodgers specifically picked the pictures. He specifically picked that picture that would be the last one. And he specifically intended it to imply his absence from the Packers.

Which means either he’s leaving the Packers, or he’s trolling everyone.

Whatever he’s up to, don’t buy it if/when he acts confused or whatever by the manner in which people interpret the final photo. He’s more than smart enough to know what he was doing. Soon enough, we’ll know precisely what he’ll be doing.

For now, mission accomplished. He wanted to create a stir with his post (even if he eventually denies that), and he did.