Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley Are Over: Will He Dump the Broncos Next?

The speculation over the status of the relationship between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and actress Shailene Woodley is over: On February 16, a Rodgers rep confirmed that the couple has called off their engagement.

This development gives Denver Broncos desperately hoping that Rodgers will ditch Green Bay for Colorado a very specific concern: Will he fall out of love with the Broncos, too?

Rumors that Rodgers was bound for Denver blew up in advance of the NFL draft last April. However, the recent hiring of Nathaniel Hackett, Rodgers's offensive coordinator at Green Bay, to serve as the Broncos' new head coach was widely viewed as confirming that the franchise will do just about anything to acquire his services prior to next season. And no wonder, since the team was quarterbacked during the previous campaign by Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock, whose mediocrity was so profound that they couldn't get into the Hall of Fame without a ticket — and maybe not even then.

Meanwhile, Denver dreamers believed that Rodgers would be particularly receptive to joining the Broncos because Woodley lives at least part-time in Boulder — which is why reports that they were on the fast track to conscious uncoupling, which began circulating in the gossip press in December, have been watched so closely. And concerns were supercharged last week when Rodgers was named the league's most valuable player for the second time in a row: Woodley wasn't at his side during the NFL Honors broadcast, and he didn't thank her in his acceptance speech.

The writing was apparently on the wall — and yesterday it was in People, which quoted "a source close to Rodgers" as saying, "It was an amicable split. It just wasn't working. They're very different people with busy careers and there were obstacles that they couldn't surmount. They will remain friendly; there's no bad blood and no drama. It just didn't work out for them."

This wasn't the only sign that a reboot with Rodgers is getting less likely for the Broncos. The Packers are said to be all in about retaining his services, and in recent days, 9News's Mike Klis, who has the closest connections to the Broncos' brain trust, produced a piece dominated by quarterback options beyond Rodgers. Even more terrifying was a February 13 Klis tweet that enthused, "The Hackett offense promises to bring the best out of Drew Lock."

That line moves the Rodgers-Woodley breakup from sad to absolutely tragic.