The Green Bay Packers find themselves halfway through the 2022 season with major questions all over the team. However, the biggest is what they are going to do at quarterback going forward. Aaron Rodgers is the back-to-back reigning MVP of the league. His drop-off in 2022, however, has been tremendous. Through nine games Aaron Rodgers has 2,091 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. Far from what his typical numbers are. This off-season Green Bay is going to have some difficult decisions to make. Here are the repercussions of each one.
Aaron Rodgers Contract Implications Going Forward:
Option One: Aaron Rodgers Keeps Playing
The Green Bay Packers likely won’t move on from Aaron Rodgers unless they receive a ridiculous trade offer, or he decides to retire. While no one knows if Rodgers will play in 2023, his contract sure makes it easy for that to happen. Although he signed a three-year extension in March, the salary cap hit is only reasonable for 2022 and 2023. If Aaron Rodgers continues to play in 2023, he will count for $31.6M against the cap. The pretty standard price for a competent QB nowadays.
Option Two: Aaron Rodgers Retires After 2022
If Rodgers decided to retire after the 2022 season, Green Bay would suffer for one year (salary cap-wise) and then be free to move on. Rodgers would count for $40.3M against the cap in 2023. However, starting in 2024 they would have no obligations to pay #12 and would be able to start the rebuild. This is the best option for Green Bay if it is decided that Rodgers isn’t “the guy” anymore.
Option Three: Aaron Rodgers Is Cut
This option will never happen. Even if Hell freezes over, I don’t think this would happen. If the Packers decide to cut Aaron Rodgers he is going to be owed a ridiculous amount of money. Cutting Aaron Rodgers would make him count towards $99M of the cap in 2023. If they chose to split that between two years it would be $31M in 2023 and then $68.2M in 2024. This would hinder Green Bay significantly for two years and would make it nearly impossible to rebuild immediately.
Option Four: Aaron Rodgers Gets Traded
This option is just about as unlikely as Rodgers getting cut… but NOT impossible. Here’s why. First, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have a “No Trade Clause” in his contract. This means he doesn’t have a say in when/where he gets traded. However, it’s hard to see what team would roll the dice on an underperforming QB, who’s owed a boatload of money AND give up the kind of draft capital Green Bay would be seeking. Rodgers’ off-the-field interests could make it difficult to sell him as well. Lastly, in order for a trade like this to look appealing to another team, Green Bay may have to be willing to pay a chunk of Rodgers’ contract in 2023.
The salary cap is supposed to increase dramatically over the next few years. However, a massive cap hit for one player won’t be easy to overcome no matter what the salary cap is. Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers are going to have to have a serious talk after the 2022 NFL Season.
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