According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Aaron Rodgers could potentially be seeking around $50 million per season on a new contract.
Aaron Rodgers has been wearing green so long, he might be permanently seeing it.
According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Aaron Rodgers is expected to inform the Green Bay Packers of his decision soon. Russini appeared on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday to discuss her report, where she expounded on some of the details.
She reported this morning an update on a when Aaron Rodgers could make a decision on his playing future and @diannaESPN joined us to explain what she's heard on the matter:#NFL #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/hLC5CMIVlc
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 24, 2022
Details on Dianna Russini’s Aaron Rodgers report
First things first, Russini seems to think that this decision could come within the next “week or so” and it seems like retirement — of the three options (stay, leave, or retire) is the least likely right now.
Second, it sounds like the financial aspect of this decision is monstrous.
Historic.
From what Russini has heard, Aaron Rodgers wants to be the “highest-paid player in the NFL, by a wide margin.” Talking about $50 million per year.
That’s a very large piece of the salary cap pie for any NFL team. As a matter of fact, the NFL’s salary cap for the 2022 season is just over $208 million, so if Rodgers were to actually count that much against the salary cap (meaning, $50 million), it would be almost an entire quarter of the pie.
Of course, that’s not always how it works. NFL teams can always find ways to work around the salary cap with signing bonuses, voidable years, and other things of the like.
The reality right now is, the salary cap is also going to be increasing substantially in the coming years so that fraction of the pie will diminish as the years go along.
If the Packers aren’t willing to pay Aaron Rodgers $50 million per season, some other team will.
This is not an outlandish request from Rodgers, even at the age of 38. He’s coming off of his second-straight MVP season. The highest-paid quarterback in the league right now (annually) is Patrick Mahomes at $45 million/year.
If Rodgers wants to far exceed that number, he’s certainly worthy of that.
We know at this point that money was not the driving force between Rodgers’ rift with the Packers. He allegedly turned down a two-year extension from the Packers once, proving — at the time, at least — that his issue with the team was not financially driven.
Money is not necessarily going to solve his longstanding issues with the Packers’ front office now, but it’s certainly part of the equation whether Rodgers is with the Packers or someone else.
Wherever Rodgers plays in 2022, it’s going to be expensive for someone to acquire him. That could end up being the Packers, the Broncos, the Steelers, or someone else.
According to Russini, teams have already done their legwork and research there. They are not worried about how to make acquiring Aaron Rodgers work, they’re simply waiting on Rodgers to know if that’s even a possibility.