Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wants clarity on his future in Green Bay. The Packers could give him that clarity with a contract extension that guarantees him more money for more future seasons. It’s unclear whether they’re willing to give him that.
Mike Silver reported on NFL Network that the Packers are working on restructuring Rodgers’ contract to free up cap space, but that it was unclear whether they would do so in such a way that can make Rodgers confident the Packers are committed to him beyond the 2021 season. Silver suggested that the Packers might want to keep open the possibility that they’d move on to Jordan Love in 2022 and not commit anything more to Rodgers beyond 2021 than they already have.
Silver’s report was short on details about what kind of restructuring the Packers are seeking, but as noted by Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, if the Packers just wanted a simple restructuring of Rodgers’ contract that converted some of this year’s base salary to a signing bonus, they could just do that now because they have the right to convert base salary into signing bonus in his contract. There’s nothing they need to “work on.” If the Packers are negotiating with Rodgers, they must be negotiating an extension or adding void years to his deal.
So it remains to be seen whether the Packers are going to make Rodgers happy by giving him clarity about his future, or if the team wants to leave itself an out to move on to Love in a year.