Tag: Aaron Rodgers contract

Jets picking up Aaron Rodgers’ $58.3 million option bonus, restructured contract expected

The contract is expected to be reworked, but Rodgers should have a pretty low cap hit for 2023.

In an expected move, the Jets are picking up Aaron Rodgers’ $58.3 million option bonus for 2023, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Picking up the option was a formality, but there was some question as to whether the Packers would take on some of Rodgers’ salary this season. It looks like that will not be the case.

Still, being that the $58 million is an option bonus, the Jets are able to spread that money out over the remaining four years of the contract. As a result, the cap number for Rodgers is just $15.79 million. At least that’s with the contract as it is now. Rodgers is expected to rework his contract.

If Rodgers is indeed around for more than one year, the trade will be worth it. It will be interesting now to see what the contract structure looks like. We should find out sometime this week when the trade becomes official.

 

Aaron Rodgers’ new contract sets impossibly high bar for Russell Wilson’s next deal

This news is especially bad for the Seattle Seahawks – and not only because they’ll have to contend with Aaron Rodgers another four years.

The Green Bay Packers have reached a deal with quarterback Aaron Rodgers worth a reported $200 million over the next four years. At $50 million per season, Rodgers now ranks No. 1 in the league in annual compensation, bumping Patrick Mahomes’ $45 million average with the Kansas City Chiefs down a spot.

This news is especially bad for the Seattle Seahawks – and not only because they’ll have to contend with Rodgers another four years. His deal might make it very difficult for Seattle if they hope to keep starting QB Russell Wilson for another contract. Around this time next year Wilson’s agent Mark Rodgers will come calling for an extension. As others have noted, he’s used Rodgers’ previous deals with Green Bay as benchmarks for Wilson’s in each of the last two negotiations with Seattle.

Wilson’s current contract pays him $35 million per season, fifth-most in the league if you don’t count Deshaun Watson. It runs through the end of the 2023 season, when his cap number will be $40 million.

We will have to see how Wilson performs this coming season before making a final judgment, but right now it’s impossible to justify paying Wilson $50 million or more per year given how he’s played the last season and a half.

While he’s still among the top-10 quarterbacks healthy, Wilson has become a bit inconsistent of late. He faltered in the second half of the 2020 season after defenses adjusted to his hot start and struggled in several games in 2021 even when his thumb wasn’t an issue.

If Wilson is going to earn Rodgers/Mahomes/Josh Allen kind of money on his next deal, he’s going to have to win an MVP award or another Super Bowl this year. If he demands it anyway, the Seahawks may want to start thinking about rebuilding around another franchise QB as soon as 2023.

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