The Packers are reportedly “creeping along towards a deal” with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Rodgers himself recently sounded confident an extension will get hammered out.
“I don’t think they would want to nickel and dime me, and I’m not trying to screw them,” Rodgers told Wilde and Tausch on ESPN Wisconsin (link via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “This is a partnership. That’s the only way this is going to work, and the best way things work in this situation is we’re in this together. If they make that financial commitment, that’s what they’re saying. And also there’s an expectation I’m going to play well, and that’s my side of the bargain.”
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.
Previous reports had indicated Rodgers may prefer a contract with a complicated structure, one that perhaps contains multiple opt-outs or a salary tied to a percentage of the NFL’s salary cap. However, Rodgers told the ESPN host he doesn’t “know how feasible that is,” so a new deal may simply have a traditional construction, which the Packers reportedly prefer.
Sorry, Rodgers became a free agent on 12/19/17 when the Packers placed him on IR for the SAME INJURY that originally landed him on IR on 10/20/17 and lasted 7 Weeks before he was activated on 12/16/17 in an ill-fated attempt to make the playoffs by leading the Packers to a victory against Carolina. It didn’t happen It is certainly not unreasonable that after the insertion of 2 plates and 13 screws the collarbone had not fully healed after a mere 7 weeks. The injured collarbone WAS the same reason for BOTH trips to IR in 2017 AND Aaron Rodgers IS a FREE AGENT except for the spin-doctoring done by the Packers and the NFL on this matter.
I’ve heard of a rule similar to that. Could you explain??
Take off the tin foil hat. You can re-aggravate an injury and thats not the same injury that originally put you on IR.
It wasn’t re-aggravated. Were talking a broken bone here, not a muscle pull. Fact is the Packers were hoping to get some Rodgers magic by prematurely activating AR before his injury had healed and have him play against Carolina. When AR failed to rally the troops and the game was lost, a playoff berth went bye-bye as well (after Atlanta’s win on MNFB). With a playoff berth lost, the need to rush AR back prematurely ended and he was returned to IR to complete his recovery – for the same injury that landed him on IR the first time.
You should get a new hobby.
I’m almost afraid to ask, but why are you so hung up on this anyway?
Rules are rules and should be equally applied to all.
You keep harping about his status but it’s really a moot point. Only one or two teams have the cap space to sign him and he has no interest in leaving the Packers to play for those teams.
The rules say the man is a free agent. At that point, it is entirely up to him where he plays. I am not advocating that Rodgers leave the Packers, or go to any team other than the Packers. As a free agent, Rodgers and his representation can certainly negotiate a new free agent contract with the Packers and remain with the team. BOTH the league and the Packers need to stop playing games with their “convenient” interpretation of the rules and declare Rodgers to be a Free Agent. What happens after that is entirely up to Rodgers and his representation. The important part is that Rodgers attains free agency based on the rules of game as agreed to by the league and the players.
It’s clear that neither Rodgers or his agent care about having free agent status. I’m a Bears fan but even I don’t obsess about the Packers to this degree.
I don’t recall that ANY NFL rules are only enforceable IF the player and his agent CARE to have them enforced. The rules are the rules, no matter the player and no matter the team. I am not obsessing about the Packers (or Rodgers), they just happen to be the team and player that are involved in this example of rule twisting. I would still be making this an issue if we were talking about the Long Snapper of the Cleveland Browns. RULES are RULES.
He is only a free agent in your fantasy land. In the real word he is under the Packers and only the Packers control
That’s the point. The fact that the league and the Packers have chosen to circumvent the application of league rules based upon the Packers history in the league and Rodgers star status in the league have Rodgers still under contract to the Packers when he should have been declared a free agent. This does not mean that I am looking to pry AR from the Packers, and have him sign elsewhere. The rule says he should be a free agent and be free to sign with whatever team he wishes, INCLUDING RESIGNING WITH THE PACKERS.