After the biggest loss of his professional career, Aaron Rodgers has been taking a lot of shots from fans of the sport which – as he has shown – is not something that he particularly enjoys. Despite an upset in the Divisional Round against the San Francisco 49ers, continuing Green Bay’s spell of bad luck in the playoffs, the Packers’ future will still include Aaron Rodgers with the franchise set to break the bank on a massive contract extension for the four-time MVP.
While this might seem like a baffling move to double down on a team with a streaky record and mortgage your future on a 38-year-old, this move comes less than a month after Aaron Rodgers took home his second MVP in a row. With just one year remaining on his contract heading into the new season, many speculated that the Packers would decide to move on from Rodgers and begin a rebuild by trading for assets. In light of the recent development, however, it’s clear he intends to eventually play his last game in front of the Cheeseheads.
“YES, I will be playing with the Packers next year,” Rodgers said in a tweet.
“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.”
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This tweet disputes the initial report from NFL Network that claimed the 38-year-old Rodgers had just agreed to a four-year, US$200 million (AU$275 million) contract, which would make him the highest-paid player in NFL history. An extension like this comes with the dual intention of sneaking under the salary cap and also providing market-level compensation for a player of Rodgers’ calibre. Seems like a lot of money to lose to Jimmy Garoppolo in the first game of the playoffs, though. Just sayin’.
While we don’t know the details of Green Bay’s latest Aaron Rodgers contract just yet, it’s also clear he wanted to personally announce his personal commitment, avoiding a similar disaster to the one they faced last year. The last time his status was uncertain, Rodgers skipped the Packers’ mandatory minicamp, holding fans on the edge of their seats until the start of training camp. This time, Rodgers has made his announcement an entire week before the free agency period is scheduled to kick off.
In somewhat related news, NFL Network has (accurately) reported the Seattle Seahawks have agreed to trade nine-time Pro Bowl QB Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, a team that was previously the suspected landing spot for Aaron Rodgers. Along with Wison, the Seahawks will send a fourth-round pick to the Broncos in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-rounder, QB Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris, as well as tight end Noah Fant.
After churning through ten different QBs in the last six years, the Broncos finally have a worthy successor to Peyton Manning, not to mention a talent they’re all too familiar with. Back in 2013, Russell Wilson guided Seattle to its only ever Super Bowl title with a 43-8 thumping against Manning and his Broncos at Super Bowl XLVIII.
