It’s unclear why the notion that the Packers offered to make quarterback Aaron Rodgers the highest-paid player in football suddenly has been repackaged and repurposed as news. Because it’s not.
In early May, Bob McGinn of TheAthletic.com reported that "[i]n recent months, according to sources, the Packers have offered to make the 37-year-old Rodgers the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback.”
The nugget that the Packers offered Rodgers a five-year package technically breaks new ground. Still, the headline -- the Packers offered to make Rodgers the highest-paid player in football, and Rodgers declined it -- is nearly three months old.
Adam Schefter’s tweet on the matter declares that Rodgers’ decision to pass on the extension constitutes “proof it’s not about the money.” Without knowing the structure and the guarantees, however, it’s impossible to make that conclusion. Rodgers may have rejected it simply because he knew that it ultimately didn’t force the Packers to keep him for two or three more years.
That’s how this all started. The Packers have year-to-year flexibility with Rodgers. Rodgers doesn’t want to play under the annual threat of the Packers choosing to trade or cut Rodgers and ride with Jordan Love.
Currently, Rodgers doesn’t want to play for the Packers at all. The situation supposedly is “fixable,” but it hasn’t been fixed. Coach Matt LaFleur has said the Packers will do whatever it takes to “help remedy the situation,” but the situation hasn’t been remedied.
At this point, the only fix comes from a contract structured to tie player and team together for at least two or three years, or a trade. Whether either happens remains to be seen.