There has been a great deal of speculation around the Green Bay Packers and their future at the quarterback position. At 5-8 with an aging superstar quarterback, it is understandable. After all, Jordan Love did put on an impressive display against the Philadelphia Eagles when Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury. The problem is that the Packers’ situation is different than any other. There is really no way to compare it to other situations because of the money involved. To be honest, it is very murky. There may not be any easy answer. However, here are all the nitty-gritty details Packers fans should know before hitching their wagon to any particular opinion.
The NFL Salary Cap Will Rise in 2023 and 2024
This year’s salary cap set a record: $208.2 million. According to NFL.com, the cap is expected to rise to about $220 million in 2023. This would be momentous because it would mark a major recovery from the lost COVID growth in terms of revenue. Additionally, PFF estimates that the 2024 salary cap could be in the $250 million range. To be clear, that figure is not set in stone. Rather, it is an estimate based on projected growth of network deals. It could very well go up that high, or it could not. For our purposes, it does serve to give us an idea of what the Packers will be working with over the next two seasons.
Aaron Rodgers Contract
As many fans are aware, Aaron Rodgers signed a three-year $150,815,000 contract before this season began. Here are the year-by-year breakdowns for 2023 and 2024:
- 2023: $59.5 million cash value; $31.6 million cap hit; $99 million dead cap hit
- 2024: $49.3 million cash value; $40.7 million cap hit; $24.5 million dead cap hit
Those dead cap hits are what the Packers would have to count towards their cap if they were to release Rodgers.
What If Aaron Rodgers Retires?
Per overthecap.com, if Aaron Rodgers were to retire after 2022, and the Packers processed his retirement right away, they would carry a cap hit over $40 million in 2023. They would not carry a cap hit at all in 2024. However, if Rodgers were to retire, and he and the Packers signed a different contract that eliminated his signing bonus, and if they processed his retirement after June 2, they would have a cap hit of $15.8 million in 2023 and $24.8 million in 2024.
Like I said earlier, it’s a murky situation.
What If the Packers Trade Aaron Rodgers?
The cap hit the Packers would suffer in the event of a trade all depends on when the trade would take place. If Rodgers was traded before June 1, 2023, the Packers would have a cap hit of $40.3 million. If it were to occur after June 1, 2023, the cap hit would be $15.8 million for that season and $24.5 million in 2024.
Jordan Love’s Contract
Jordan Love is still on his rookie deal for 2023. This means that he will make $2.2 million in 2023 with a dead cap hit of $3.1 million. His cap hit for 2023 is $3.9 million.
If the Packers pick up his fifth year option, he would make roughly $20 million in 2024 with all of it counting towards the salary cap.
Conclusion
To put it simply, if the Packers carry both quarterbacks into 2023 and 2024, they will be paying $60 million+ for their quarterbacks in both seasons. This number can possibly be reduced by a well-timed trade of Aaron Rodgers, or a well-timed processing of Rodgers’ retirement papers. Of course, there is no way to accurately predict what will happen, but these are
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