Green Bay Packers News & Rumors

Packers, Aaron Rodgers Making Progress On Extension

By Dallas Robinson | at August 1, 2018 8:32 pm

The Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have made “noticeable progress” during their negotiations for a long-term extension, and Green Bay reportedly is optimistic that Rodgers will have a new deal in place by the time the 2018 regular season gets underway, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link).

Green Bay has apparently been setting Week 1 as a potential deadline for Rodgers talks for awhile, as previous reports have also indicated a similar timeline. But Rapoport’s signal of progress is certainly an improvement over recent reports — such as the one issued by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk in late July — which said Rodgers and the Packers were still far apart in negotiations.

Any stalls in talks can likely be blamed on the structure of the pact, as Rodgers is believed to prefer a contract that doesn’t lock him into a number long-term. The two-time MVP would like more control over his future and may prefer a deal that includes one big payout before a series of player options. The Packers, however, are attempting to lock up Rodgers via a “bland and traditional” long-term extension.

“As far as setting a trend or breaking down things, it’s great for the game and its players, for sure, when Kirk (Cousins) does a deal like he did,” Rodgers recently said of Cousins’ fully guaranteed Vikings deal. “The reality is, there’s not many teams that would do that, first of all. And there aren’t many teams that would do it for more than three years. So at some point, there are going to be contracts that will continue to extend that, and there’s been guys who’ve done it over the years, who’ve done monumental things, whether it’s Reggie White in free agency, that make a difference for the next generation. That’s something you can have as part of your legacy.”

Rodgers, 34, is currently signed through the 2019 season, with cap charges north of $20MM in each of the next two campaigns. On an annual average basis, though, Rodgers’ $22MM/year now ranks just 10th among quarterbacks, behind the likes of Joe Flacco, Alex Smith, and Derek Carr, among others.

Deal Structure Stalling Rodgers, Packers?

By Sam Robinson | at July 29, 2018 5:48 pm

Although the Packers and Aaron Rodgers did not come to terms on an extension agreement by the outset of training camp, neither side viewed that as a key deadline, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). However, optimism exists in Green Bay about this deal being completed before the regular season and perhaps by the middle of camp, per Rapoport.

Rodgers is still believed to prefer a contract that doesn’t lock him into a number long-term, but the Packers are approaching the negotiations that way, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. The two-time MVP would like more control over his future and may prefer a deal that includes one big payout before a series of player options.

Florio, though, notes the Packers are trying to get Rodgers locked down via “bland and traditional” long-term extension. It’s hard to blame the team for this, since that’s pretty much how NFL contracts work, but the disparity regarding the parties’ preferences on contract structure is halting these talks’ progress.

Rodgers obviously saw how outdated his $22MM-per-year extension, which was a record when he signed it in April 2013, became. A contract that doesn’t tie Rodgers to the Packers for a substantial number of years would help prevent this from happening again.

A holdout won’t be in the cards for Rodgers, though Florio argues that should be a tactic he considers due to his value to the franchise. The ability chasm between backups DeShone Kizer and Brett Hundley and Rodgers is obviously gargantuan.

In a sign that perhaps Rodgers could win out, Rapoport does not expect the 34-year-old quarterback’s next Packers deal to look like Matt Ryan‘s Falcons pact — a five-year, $150MM deal which currently leads the quarterback pack. Rodgers has two years left on his deal, but given his importance to the franchise, it’s obvious he has plenty of leverage here as well.