There will be no Aaron Rodgers trade and the reigning NFL league MVP will end his career as a Green Bay Packer.
League insider Ian Rapoport announced Tuesday afternoon that Rodgers and the Packers have hooked up for a four-year contract extension worth a reported $200million.
The pact achieves Rodgers’ aim of being the highest paid player in the NFL – his $50million APY will beat the $45million Patrick Mahomes snagged for his $450million, 10-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
It also means the Packers can now get on with their other important offseason business ahead of free agency – sorting out the future of superstar WR Davante Adams. Green Bay will likely place the franchise tag on Adams (the deadline is 4pm Eastern on Tuesday), giving them until July 15 to work out a long-term deal.
Deal heals Pack/Rodgers rift
A year ago this scenario with Rodgers seemed unthinkable – the first half of 2021 was a Cold War between him and the Pack which made an eventual trade seem inevitable.
But Rodgers reported back for the 2021 season and repeated as league MVP as Green Bay put up the best regular-season record in the NFL. They lost in the Divisional Round of the playoffs of course, falling to the San Francisco 49ers in a slugfest at Lambeau Field.
The relationship between Rodgers and the Packers appeared to thaw considerably during the 2021 season and by the early part of this year a trade seemed unlikely. A number of teams were reportedly set to part with multiple first-round picks to acquire Rodgers – notably the Denver Broncos.
Now Rodgers will finish out his Hall of Fame career where he started it, in Wisconsin.
Packers Super Bowl Odds
Not surprisingly the news that Rodgers is staying in Green Bay has affected the team’s odds to finally win Aaron a second Super Bowl ring.
On Tuesday morning Green Bay was around the +1500 mark (bet $100 to win $1500) to win Super Bowl LVII. But that shrunk fast to as low as +900 once the seismic news came through.
In terms of the odds to be NFC Champions in 2022, Green Bay is now joint favorite with the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams at +550.
What happens to Jordan Love?
Good question, and it surely does not look good for the QB selected in the first round of the 2020 Draft as the heir apparent to Rodgers. Remember that’s effectively where the Rodgers/Pack beef started.
Aaron signing for another four years surely means the Pack will shop Love on the trade market. Maybe they get a 2 for him? A 1 given he was taken late in the first round seems a little rich.