At times last season, Aaron Rodgers’ future with the Green Bay Packers, and with the NFL, was up in the air. Now, those doubts have been extinguished.
The 38-year-old franchise quarterback agreed to a 4-year, $200 million extension with the team yesterday morning, breaking the record for the highest annual salary in the history of the four major North American sports.
Rodgers will be paid $50 million a year, which eclipses Patrick Mahomes’ current salary of $41 million a year with the Chiefs, and only falls short of Lionel Messi’s 4-year, $673 million contract with FC Barcelona, which sees him earn an average of $168 million per year.
The #Packers and MVP QB Aaron Rodgers have agreed to terms on a 4-year, $200M deal that makes him the highest paid player in NFL history, sources say. He gets a whopping $153M guaranteed and his cap number goes down. A monstrous commitment by GB for years to come. 💰 💰 💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2022
Rodgers will receive $153 million, guaranteed, along with another $47 million as an option in the fourth year. With this, his position as the franchise’s quarterback is all but certain, leaving 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Love out of a starting job with the Packers. But despite the news, Rodgers has not actually signed the contract yet, but has agreed to it.
Hey everyone, just wanted to clear some things up; YES I will be playing with the @packers next year, however, reports about me signing a contract are inaccurate, as are the supposed terms of the contract I “signed”. I’m very excited to be back 💪🏼 #year18❤️
— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 8, 2022
With this contract, the Packers’ odds of winning the Super Bowl next season jumped from 15-1 to 12-1 at the online sportsbook. Rodgers had openly admitted he did not want to be a part of the team’s rebuilding phase, and with Green Bay almost $45 million over the projected salary cap, it is undeniable that they are locked in a win-now mindset.
But over the past decade, that mindset hasn’t quite panned out for the Packers. They have done extraordinarily well during the regular season, winning 13 games each season for the past three (totaling 39 wins over the past 3 seasons), but unfortunately for them, that is the record for the most wins during that stretch without a Super Bowl to show for it.
Funny enough, this is not even the first massive extension Rodgers has agreed to with the Packers. In 2018, he signed a then-record 4-year, $134 million contract with a $57 million signing bonus. If he chooses to play out the entirety of his contract, it would mean that his entire career would be with the Packers, since he made his debut with the team back in 2005.
What do you think of Aaron Rodgers’ massive contract extension? Let us know, by either leaving a reaction below or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
