Don’t get too excited. It’s not the contract extension we’ve all been waiting for, but Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews is getting a raise.
Tom Silverstein reports Matthews’ 2013 salary will jump to $3.73 million because of escalators in his rookie deal. Matthews is in the final year of that contract.
Matthews was originally slated to make $805,000 this year, but he hit two performance-based escalators. His cap number will be $4.91 million.
All of these numbers will soon be moot though, at least if the Packers have their way. The team wants to sign Matthews to a long-term extension and that deal will make him one of the highest-paid linebackers in the league.
That number will likely be in the $11 million per season range, which is what Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware makes. That would also make Matthews the highest-paid player on the team.
Aaron Rodgers makes around $10 million per season. That also means the Packers will probably need to work on Rodgers’ deal when they do Matthews’.