Hey, maybe the Green Bay Packers are actually doing something this offseason. PFT is reporting that a new deal for quarterback Aaron Rodgers could be done before the draft.
Earlier this week, Packers president Mark Murphy termed a new deal for Rodgers a priority. That wasn’t really a revelation to any of us, though. The Packers have wanted to extend Rodgers’ deal for some time.
Rodgers signed a six-year extension back in 2008. That deal pays him an average of $10.5 million per season and runs through 2014. Since then, Rodgers has won a Super Bowl and an MVP. Guys like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Joe Flacco have also signed new mega-deals since then, making Rodgers grossly underpaid by NFL standards.
Manning makes $18 million per season, Brees makes $20 million and Flacco makes $20.1 million.
The Packers are expected to eclipse all of those numbers for Rodgers. Word is, his new deal could be in the $23 million per season range. As the best quarterback in the league, he deserves it, but what does that mean for the Packers?
As we’ve seen in Baltimore, the Ravens have essentially been forced to disassemble their Super Bowl team to pay Flacco that idiotic amount of money. With the salary cap hovering just over $120 million, Rodgers deal will take up about 1/6 of that, which leaves a much smaller piece for everyone else.
Maybe Rodgers can double up as a safety or something.