Quarterbacks Are the N.F.L.’s Biggest Investment. Why Won’t It Listen to Them?

From Aaron Rodgers to Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes, quarterbacks are trying to push football’s status quo. The results have lagged behind stars’ achievements in other sports.

Aaron Rodgers had a lot to get off his mind. After two years of mounting whispers over his frustration with his team, Rodgers finally laid out his grievances when he reported to Green Bay Packers training camp in July. In sweeping depth and granular detail, the franchise quarterback expounded on all the topics team executives had not asked his opinion about, from the drafting of his potential successor to the team’s letting go of one of his favorite receiver targets. “I just want to be involved in conversations that affect my ability to do my job, and it’s not all personnel, but I think I have a unique perspective being in the locker room and having been the starting quarterback here for 13 years and being here for 16 years,” Rodgers said during his July news conference.