On Friday, various sports books became convinced that Aaron Rodgers was serious about retiring. Apparently, the Packers became convinced of it, too.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that, over the weekend, the Packers and Rodgers reached “mutually-agreed upon terms that are close to convincing Aaron Rodgers to abandon plans he had to skip training camp and instead return for it.” Per the report, the concessions do not include more money.
The concessions would include the Packers wiping out the 2023 season of the current Rodgers contract, with no tags permissible once the deal expires after the 2022 season. The Packers also would “agree to review” the situation at the end of the current season.
It sounds as if the Packers also will convert a large chunk of his $14.6 million base salary to a bonus, spreading it over multiple years and creating cap room in 2021.
Finally, “mechanisms” reportedly will be put in place to address his issues with the team. Whatever those may be.
And so it looks like Rodgers will be back — assuming the deal gets done and he indeed abandons his plans to not show up. This could be a very delicate time, however; one false move by the Packers or some throwaway “complicated fella” comment could in theory blow it all up.