GREEN BAY, Wisconsin. The contract extension that Aaron Rodgers signed with the Green Bay Packers suggests they will be together for at least the next two seasons.
The deal, signed on Tuesday, a week after he announced he would return to the team after considering his future, is essentially a three-year, $150 million deal that also includes two cancelable years in 2025 and 2026. years, which help with the purpose of limiting wages. to a copy of the contract obtained by ESPN.
Rogers, 38, was on the books due to a $46,144,156 million wage cap, but that figure was reduced by about $18 million.
The current two-time league MVP will earn $41.95 million this season, fully guaranteed in a $40.8 million roster bonus (which will be treated as a signing bonus for salary cap purposes) and a base salary of $1.15 million dollars. His 2023 salary of $59.465 million is also guaranteed. In 2024, his $49.25 million is injury-only guaranteed at the time of signing.
If Rodgers only played one season and then retired, released or sold in 2023, then the Packers would have to absorb a massive amount of dead money of more than $68 million – another sign that he intends or has committed to playing at least more. two seasons.
A member of the Packers medical staff flew to Rogers over the weekend and performed the physical examination required before signing any contract. Once this was completed, the deal was sealed.
The Packers were $21.2 million over the salary cap before the Rogers deal was registered. They are now close to hitting the salary cap due Wednesday at 4:00 pm ET. They will need to make a few more moves, although one of them is not expected to be Rogers’ close friend, kicker Mason Crosby. There has been no change to his status or contract, a source said, despite a season in which he missed nine hits. Crosby is projected to earn $3.4 million with a maximum of $4.735 million.
Rodgers’ return now calls into question the future of backup quarterback Jordan Love. General manager Brian Gutekunst’s decision to select Love in 2020 cast doubt on Rodgers’ future with the team. Shortly after Love was drafted by the Packers, Rodgers reaffirmed his desire to not only play under 40, but to do so with the Packers. However, he said he understands that “it might not be realistic at the moment” and added, “I’m just not sure how it all works together at the moment.”
Rodgers described his future as a “beautiful mystery” at the end of the 2020 season and shortly after the Packers’ loss in the NFC championship game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers included himself in a group of players with an uncertain future.
This was followed by an off-season boycott—he skipped practice, organized team events and a mini-camp—during which ESPN reported that Rodgers was so unhappy with the Packers that he told some in the organization that he would never play for them again.
Upon his return to the team on the eve of training camp, Rodgers signed a restructured contract that eliminated the final year of his contract for the 2023 season, easing a divorce after the 2021 season.
Rodgers then broke Brett Favre’s franchise record of 442 career passing yards last season, ending the season with 449. Now, Rodgers has a shot at breaking several other Favre records, including career passing yards.