The Packers wanted to extend the contract of quarterback Aaron Rodgers before Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins signed their new deals. Rodgers wanted to wait.
He did, and they have. So now it’s time for Rodgers to get his new deal. What will that deal be?
With Cousins now nudging the bar from Jimmy Garoppolo’s $27.5 million per year to $28 million per year, Rodgers will get at least $28.5 million per year. He has a very good chance at matching or beating $30 million per year.
He’ll definitely get to or past $30 million per year in “new money.” The real question is whether he’ll cross that threshold in total value from signing.
Another question is whether he’ll end up with a short-term deal like Cousins, with a full guarantee and none of the non-guaranteed, below-market, back-end numbers that Rodgers has been laboring under for the past couple of seasons.
However it shakes out, Rodgers will emerge as the highest-paid player in NFL history, with $28 million man Kirk Cousins and $27 million man Matthew Stafford in the same division. As always, however, the devil as to Rodgers’ deal will be dancing around in the details.