Aaron Rodgers, who will receive $59.5 million next year, hints at salary reduction to benefit Packers’ roster
Aaron Rodgers is willing to take a pay cut if it benefits the Packers.
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Aaron Rodgers (Image via Acme Packing Company)
Aaron Rodgers is once again the hot topic for the media as the veteran quarterback is contemplating his future. The 39-year-old quarterback just completed this 18th season in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.
As per Adam Schefter’s recent comments, if the Packers decided to trade Rodgers, it will be to an AFC team only. Even the star quarterback has said that both he and Green Bay need to evaluate a lot of things and then decide if he comes back or not.
Last year the Packers signed him to a three-year $150 million deal and next year he will be paid around $59.5 million which has made analysts and fans believe that there is no way Rodgers leaves the Packers with that much money on the table.
Keeping Aaron Rodgers on might be a fiscally irresponsible move for the Packers
While in conversation with Pat McAfee on his show, Aaron Rodgers said that he would be willing to take a pay cut if the Packers want him back for another season. “I don’t think there’d be a scenario where I would come back and that would be the number,” Rodgers said.
“Definitely things would have to shift. There’s a lot of teams, because of COVID, that are strapped, and you’re seeing with a lot of different contracts, they’re pushing more money out in deals,” Rodgers said on the show. “They’re creating void years to allow for an easier cap hit, so there would have to be some adjustments, for sure.”
If the Packers part ways with the 4x league MVP, then they will still have to pay him a large sum of money. Rodgers accounts for $31.6 million in salary cap if he plays next year and $40.3 million in dead money for the Packers if he retires or is traded. This money keeps on increasing if he plays for the Packers for another season. Green Bay would have $68m if he walks away after the 2023 season and $71 million if he does the same in 2024.
So, it’s definitely now or never for the Packers. If they want to cut their losses, they have to do it this offseason itself. Green Bay did select Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, so maybe they might move on with him as starting quarterback. Aaron Rodgers agreeing to a pay cut might come as a relief to the organization, but it won’t help the Packers in salary cap all that much. They would still be neck-deep in dead money.
It’s a really tricky situation with the Packers and it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. If the Packers are willing to lose money, that means a Super Bowl with Rodgers or they just try their luck with Jordan Love.
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)