Aaron Rodgers' costly contract gives Packers three-year Super Bowl window | Opinion
GREEN BAY, Wis. – As is the case in every professional sport, it’s all about the money.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an owner, advertiser, player or coach, there’s money out there to be had and anyone would do the same thing Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did with his latest contract if they had the chance.
He went for the gold.
For all his denial on Twitter that the deal was not the four-year, $200 million extension – $150 million of it guaranteed – that NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport said it would be March 8 – it basically came in at those same numbers, according to multiple reports from NFL Network, which as an arm of the NFL is privy to league information other media is not.
NEVER MISS A SNAP: Sign up for our NFL newsletter for exclusive content
It’s a good deal for the Packers from the standpoint that, according to a source who saw the contract, it lowers Rodgers’ salary-cap number from $46.14 million to $28.48 million, thereby getting them about $8 million from meeting their adjusted salary-cap limit of $215.4 million before the deadline of 3 p.m. CDT on Wednesday.
But it also is a market-value contract and shows how important it was for Rodgers and his agent, David Dunn, to make the reigning MVP the highest-paid quarterback in the league. If the two left any money on the table to help the Packers get through their salary-cap woes, it wasn’t much.
And let’s make this clear: It is not Rodgers’ job to manage the Packers’ salary cap. It is his right to maximize his earning potential because he has earned whatever it is someone is willing to pay him to play football. No player should apologize for their salary because the NFL rakes in a higher percentage of revenue than its players do, and no owner will ever pay more than he has to.
Rodgers’ deal calls for him to receive $42 million upfront, about $26 million less than when he signed a five-year extension in 2018. On the surface, it looks like he did the Packers a huge favor by accepting less upfront because it helped keep his salary-cap number down in 2022.
But the Packers made it worth his while by guaranteeing all $101.5 million of the first two years of the contract, meaning he gets it all whether he is traded or cut or retires. Over the previous 17 years of his career, he had received $136.5 million in fully guaranteed money, so you can see the commitment on the Packers’ side.
In addition, another $49.3 million becomes fully guaranteed if he is still on the roster in March of 2024.
Rodgers’ salaries for the three years are $42 million in ‘22, $59.51 million in ‘23 and $49.3 million in ‘24.
There are also two option years that allow the Packers to spread out signing-bonus money over five years instead of three. If he plays in ’23 and/or ‘24, the Packers will probably have to convert his salaries into signing bonus money and push off even more salary-cap charges into the future.
So, in denying Rapoport’s report, Rodgers was once again dancing around the facts, which he does a lot and is most famous for doing when he told the public last year he was “immunized” but was in fact not vaccinated against COVID-19.
MORE: Aaron Rodgers' salary-cap number drops to $28 million
MORE: Packers put second-round tender on restricted free agent receiver Allen Lazard
The total deal is worth around $186.75 million and since it only includes $101.5 million of “fully” guaranteed money, Rodgers gets to say, “See, I told you it wasn’t accurate,” even though the deal easily could result in $150 million guaranteed.
The reason he had his de facto spokesperson, talk show host Pat McAfee, shout out to anyone who would listen that the numbers were false, and Rodgers was doing a “cap-friendly” deal, is that the quarterback did not want to be perceived as greedy. He wanted to emphasize the part where the Packers gain $18 million in cap space because he structured the deal a certain way.
But why not be honest and admit, this is all about money? Or just not say anything at all?
The $50 million yearly average is significant because it makes him the highest-paid player in the NFL by that measure. He surpassed Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ $45 million per year. His $101.5 million in fully guaranteed money surpassed Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s previous record of $95 million signed a year ago.
So, after two straight MVP awards, he is on the top of the quarterback salary heap.
Again, good for him. It’s obviously what he wanted.
Only he tried to tell people when he returned after months of boycotting offseason workouts and contemplating retirement that his beef wasn’t all about money. In the same news conference, he talked about how anyone who was coming off an incredible year would naturally ask for a pay raise and want more job security, especially after his potential successor was added in 2020.
Last year, the Packers were going through unprecedented contract manipulation to get under the salary cap because it sunk due to the pandemic. They had signed Rodgers to an extension in ’18 that included $72 million in guaranteed money, so they wanted to see if they could skate by one more year before deciding if it was worth signing Rodgers to another extension.
Rodgers was having none of it and although he boycotted the offseason, the only thing he got out of coming back was that the Packers removed the final year of his contract (2023) so he could become a free agent sooner. It was set up so that the Packers either had to trade Rodgers or sign him to a new deal this offseason.
MORE: Aaron Rodgers' new deal keeps open the Green Bay Packers' three-decade title window
MORE: Packers fans glad to see Aaron Rodgers back, but question whether it is worth the cost
They were approached by the Denver Broncos about trading him and might have been able to coax three first-round picks out of the deal.
But general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur felt they needed Rodgers to finally get over the hump after bowing out of the playoffs following three consecutive NFC North titles. Rodgers helped them out with the structure of the deal, but if they don’t win a Super Bowl in the next three seasons, the whole thing will have been a bust.
Not only would they have no hardware to show for it, but they would also have $76 million in “dead money” on their cap should Rodgers retire or be cut or traded after the third year. All that money that Rodgers is deferring so the cap can go down this year will come due and a huge portion of it will still be there a year or two after he leaves.
Given their salary-cap limitations, the Packers are going to have to stay healthy, get a nice boost from their draft class and hope they can sign franchise free-agent receiver Davante Adams and cornerback Jaire Alexander to long-term deals, so they can continue to gain cap space.
Next year, the cap is expected to begin an upward climb of around 15% a year that should help the Packers deal with some of the cap charges they have pushed off into the future. But it won’t solve all their woes.
The only thing that would soften the blow would be a Super Bowl title. They certainly have paid a steep price to put them in position for one again.