GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers Foundation will award $1.5 million in grants this year to 398 civic and charitable organizations across Wisconsin.

This year’s grants focus on the areas of arts and culture, athletics and education. A luncheon recognizing grant recipients is scheduled for noon Thursday in the Lambeau Field Atrium.

Luncheon speakers will include Wilson Jones, chairman of the Green Bay Packers Foundation, and Packers alumnus Dorsey Levens. Representatives of three recipient organizations also will speak.

The Green Bay Preble Concert Choir will perform before the luncheon.

In 2025, the grants will go toward organizations in the areas of animal welfare, civic and community, environmental, health, and wellness (including drug/alcohol and domestic violence). For information, go to packers.com/community/packers-foundation.

Wild Aaron Rodgers landing spot for 2025 would send Packers fans into tailspin

Aaron Rodgers back in the NFC North? It isn’t out of the realm of possibility, and it’d be jarring for Packers fans, to say the least.

As difficult as it was seeing Aaron Rodgers wear a different uniform after he spent his first 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the Cheeseheads had reason to cope knowing that Rodgers was, at the very least, going to be in the AFC with the New York Jets. His opportunities to get revenge on his old squad would be few and far between.

It’s safe to say that Rodgers’ tenure in New York has not gone as planned. He missed all but four snaps in his first season due to an Achilles tear, and while he has stayed healthy this season, has led the Jets to a 3-8 record and has had one of the worst seasons of his career. For the most part, he has looked like a 40-year-old quarterback.

With all that has gone wrong in New York, the Jets have cleaned house. Both head coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas have been fired, and there’s a good chance that the roster will have major changes coming this offseason.

If the Jets really want a shake-up, they can opt to move on from Rodgers and look ahead to the future. This can be done either via trade or the Jets can release him and take on a cap hit. With how poorly this season has gone, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Rodgers’ tenure in New York be done one way or another.

Assuming the Jets do decide to move on from Rodgers, the 40-year-old has a decision to make. He can either retire, or decide to play for another team. A return to Green Bay is out of the question, given the fact that Jordan Love is cemented as their franchise guy. A return to the NFC North, though, doesn’t feel impossible. What if a team that loves bringing former Packers into the mix, the Minnesota Vikings, were to consider signing him? That isn’t entirely far-fetched.

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Vikings have one QB under contract for 2025 and he has never played a down of regular-season NFL football. It's happening. 😏 https://t.co/9lydsz02Vr

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 19, 2024

Packers fans wouldn’t like possible Aaron Rodgers 2025 landing spot

Going from mostly irrelevant to the Packers to having to play against Rodgers twice in 2025 would be less than ideal for Green Bay fans, and yet, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The only quarterback currently under contract past this season in Minnesota is J.J. McCarthy. Now, the Vikings did just draft McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, expecting him to be their QB of the future, but who knows if that’ll be the case? McCarthy tore his ACL, costing him his entire rookie season before it even began. Sam Darnold has played mostly well in his place, leading Minnesota to an 8-2 record, but he’s on a one-year deal. Would the Vikings commit to him long-term?

Here’s how Rodgers makes sense. Instead of throwing McCarthy into the fire for the first time coming off an ACL tear, they can sit him behind a future Hall of Famer in Rodgers while allowing him to get his feet wet in practice. Benching a first-round pick for two straight years isn’t ideal, but with this season being a wash for McCarthy, it might be for the best.

Is this likely to happen? Of course not. The Jets would have to be willing to either trade Rodgers for little in return or release him while taking on a dead cap hit, which probably isn’t particularly likely. The Vikings, whether it’s smart or not, probably won’t want to sit McCarthy for another full season. Still, given the roster in place in Minnesota and Rodgers’ track record in the NFC North, it’s hard for the Vikings to not consider bringing him aboard. It’d certainly annoy Packers fans.