AARON RODGERS’ WILL-HE-WON’T-HE saga with the Green Bay Packers has reached its conclusion, with the veteran quarterback agreeing terms on a four-year extension with the Wisconsin-based franchise worth $200 million, including $153m in guaranteed money.
The four-time MVP (including for the season just gone), who led his side to Super Bowl success in 2010, will become the highest-paid player in NFL history on an annual basis.
Crucially, however, the deal will reduce the 38-year-old’s salary-cap number for 2022, which positively impacts Green Bay’s chances of success next season.
The Packers were over the cap by roughly $26 million, and Rodgers’ existing deal accounted for a cap number of $46.6 million in 2022 which would have posed a problem in the franchise’s attempts to retain star receiver Davante Adams. However, with Rodgers’ new, lower cap number for the upcoming season taken into consideration, the Packers can place the franchise tag on Adams before Tuesday’s deadline — which is exactly what they intend to do according to NFL Network journalist Ian Rappaport who first reported Rodgers’ new deal.
The future is now less certain for the Packers’ 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love, the young quarterback who was signed to succeed Rodgers as part of a strategised succession plan, much like Rodgers did the Packers’ previous franchise QB Brett Favre in 2008.
Rodgers has on several occasions over the past two off-seasons cast serious doubt over his future with the organisation, citing disagreements regarding the ways in which he and the Packers wish to operate into the future.
However, he and general manager Brian Gutekunst put aside their creative differences in time for Rodgers to return for the 2021 season, when the Packers again fell short in the playoffs but Rodgers won his second straight MVP gong — which is awarded based on performance during the regular season.
His new contract is a clear indication that the Packers have, to some degree, bent to Rodgers’ will but equally, that they also still see his being in the saddle as their best avenue for success over the next four years.
