Jul 22, 2023; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) participates in drills during the New York Jets Training Camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports.
For the first time in 31 years, the Green Bay Packers will showcase a regular season without Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers at QB1.
Fourth-year product Jordan Love will take the reins in Wisconsin and attempt to replicate the glory accrued by Favre and Rodgers over the last three decades.
The Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets in April after about three offseasons of drama, formally ending The Rodgers Era in Green Bay and granting the Jets an honest-to-goodness shot at the Super Bowl for the time in eons.
And while the Packers could be just fine without Rodgers — he stunk by his standards last year, and Green Bay missed the postseason — the former Packer appears to be ‘rubbing his old team’s nose in it.’
Here and there, Rodgers seems to relish life outside of Green Bay and served up a contractual bombshell Wednesday. Out of nowhere, Rodgers accepted a massive paycut, allowing the Jets to fill out a roster more stuffed with playmakers.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted Wednesday, “The Jets signed four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to a new two-year, $75 million guaranteed contract through the 2024 season, per NFL salary data. Rodgers had nearly $110M guaranteed remaining on his old deal in GB. He’s taking less for a shot at a ring (or two) in New York.”
The paycut equates to $35 million in savings for New York, a mammoth amount over the next two years in hopes of winning a Super Bowl for the first time since Joe Namath’s era.
One might wonder — why didn’t Rodgers do this in Green Bay? He utterly maximized his pocketbook with an elephantine extension last year.
Rodgers is also responsible for ‘little stuff’ that differs from his Packers tenure. In addition to the unforeseen pay reduction — which is a big damn deal — Rodgers showed up at Jets OTAs this year. He was absent from the Packers event in 2022.
He recently said about Jets WR Garrett Wilson, “Davante is in a category by himself, but (our) 17 reminds me of the other 17, as far as his ability to get out of breaks and his quick twitch at the line of scrimmage, for sure.”
Neither Rodgers nor Adams plays for the Packers anymore.
Too, Rodgers’ paycut strategy could pay off in New York. The day after accepting the new deal, sources reported that Dalvin Cook, a former Viking, is on his way to New York for a free-agent meeting. It almost feels as if one item precipitated the other.
Of course, Rodgers must show up in September and win ball games, but so far this offseason, he’s ‘living the dream’ outside of Green Bay while the Packers can merely hope Love is the real deal.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.