When Aaron Rodgers made his decision to return to the Green Bay Packers, head coach Matt LaFleur was in a meeting with his staff. Naturally after he received the message about Rodgers' move, he had to get up from his seat and leave to check if he read that correctly.

Fortunately for him, he did.

“I was in an offensive meeting, so it was pretty exciting,” LaFleur said on how he learned about Rodgers' return to the Packers, per Sports Illustrated. “I actually darted out right away to make sure I read it the correct way before I let anybody know. I would say I had pretty good feelings about it throughout the course of the offseason–since the season had ended up to that point. But until you know, you really don’t know.”

After their playoffs exit in the divisional round, there were rumors that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were heading to an amicable breakup. Fans, former players and the media were of the belief that the relationship has run its course and it's time for a change for both teams.

The Packers were expected to head on a rebuild since it would have been difficult for them to keep all their free agents anyway, while Rodgers was largely predicted to join a contender and try to attempt one more run at the Super Bowl.

Interestingly, Rodgers decided to give it one more go with the Packers. Green Bay, meanwhile, showed their commitment to him with a four-year, $200 million contract–with $153 million in guaranteed money. That means the 38-year-old QB will earn at least $50 million in the next three years.

Matt LaFleur, however, is more than happy to see Rodgers back. He makes them contenders, and with him under center despite the loss of wide receiver Davante Adams, they are still more than capable of competing at the highest level.

The Green Bay tactician has that much confidence in Rodgers, whom he also said can play for as long as he wants.

“I think he’ll go as long as he wants to go,” LaFleur responded when he was asked how long he thinks Rodgers will play in the NFL. “I think he’s got not only the talent and the mind, but the way he takes care of himself is as good as I’ve seen. He’s super-disciplined in terms of everything does from what he puts into his body to how he prepares physically and mentally. Those aren’t conversations that we have regularly, so we’re just going to take advantage of the time that he is with us and continue to try to work and grind and hopefully someday be able to get a Super Bowl.”

While some people might have their reservations about Rodgers returning and the financial impact he has on the Packers, it is clear why LaFleur needs him. They do have Jordan Love to take over, but Rodgers is simply an irreplaceable player who makes a winning impact whenever he is on the field. The back-to-back 2020 and 2021 MVP was the reason why they finished atop the NFC once again.

His presence should also benefit Love. Even though it lessens his chance to get a start, it should be beneficial for him to shadow and learn from one of the best QBs to ever do it in the league.