It’s official: Reigning league MVP Aaron Rodgers will be returning to the Green Bay Packers on a historic deal, as NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports.
The #Packers and MVP QB Aaron Rodgers have agreed to terms on a 4-year, $200M deal that makes him the highest paid player in NFL history, sources say. He gets a whopping $153M guaranteed and his cap number goes down. A monstrous commitment by GB for years to come. 💰 💰 💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2022
Rapoport said, “The #Packers and MVP QB Aaron Rodgers have agreed to terms on a 4-year, $200M deal that makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history, sources say. He gets a whopping $153M guaranteed and his cap number goes down. A monstrous commitment by GB for years to come.”
There’s a lot to unpack from Rapoport’s tweet.
First, Rodgers’ $50 million average annual value trumps Patrick Mahomes‘ ten-year, $450 million deal, which translates to $45 million annually.
Second, he deserves that amount of money being the reigning Most Valuable Player and he is now the needle mover of the quarterback market.
Third, the league reached the $50 million threshold, which if you take in base form is 25 percent of the 2022 salary cap.
Fourth, and more importantly, his cap number goes down despite getting $153 million guaranteed.
The Packers can soften his cap hit for 2022 to save up to $25 million.
That’s a significant amount in helping them free up more cap space to re-sign Davante Adams as well.
More Salary Specifics For Green Bay
If Rodgers decided to continue playing for Green Bay but without opting out, his cap hit of over $40 million could be a huge blow to their roster-building means.
Now, his reduced cap hit for 2022 alone makes the Packers cap-compliant by a little amount.
With the way the salary cap is increasing, Rodgers’ deal might end up being a bargain.
More importantly, they get cap flexibility to acquire free agents and re-sign their key players.
With one historic deal, the Packers are back as legitimate contenders.
