The Packers and Aaron Rodgers are a couple million dollars a year apart as they continue discussing a new contract that would keep him in Green Bay into his mid-30s.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the two sides are roughly $2 million a year apart. That might sound like a lot, but when we’re talking about adding another four years and somewhere around $100 million in new money to Rodgers’ deal, a $2 million a year difference is something that the sides can work through.
The Packers would need to go a little beyond $100 million in new money over four additional years if they’re going to pay Rodgers more over the next six seasons than the $120 million deal Joe Flacco signed. Rapoport reports that the Packers are currently offering more than $21 million a year, and that Rodgers will end up with a better deal than Flacco got. The Packers would need to pay Rodgers an additional $106 million over four more years to get to an average of $21 million over the next six years. If they’re $2 million apart and Rodgers wants to average $23 million a year for the next six years, the Packers would need to pay him an additional $118 million on a four-year extension.
Flacco, of course, got his great deal in large part because he bet on himself, turned the Ravens down last year and proved himself worthy of more money by winning the Super Bowl MVP award. If the Packers don’t add another $2 million a year to their offer, Rodgers may try to do the same.