The biggest news of the NFL offseason came this Tuesday afternoon when Pat McAfee tweeted that Aaron Rodgers will sign an extension and remain with the Green Bay Packers long-term. According to Ian Rapoport, Rodgers signed a 4-year, $200 million extension with $153 million guaranteed, and Jay Glazer confirmed the $50 million average. But McAfee disputed the numbers, saying it’s more of a team-friendly deal. Either way, now we know Rodgers will be the Packers’ quarterback moving forward and can analyze what’s going to happen with more accuracy.
Hey everyone, just wanted to clear some things up; YES I will be playing with the @packers next year, however, reports about me signing a contract are inaccurate, as are the supposed terms of the contract I “signed”. I’m very excited to be back ???????? #year18❤️
— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 8, 2022
1. The Packers are all-in
There’s no reason to keep Aaron Rodgers, who will be 39 years old next season, and rebuild. The Packers probably wouldn’t rebuild anyway, but the big extension given to Rodgers is a clear signal that general manager Brian Gutekunst thinks this roster is too good to dismantle and, with some reinforcements, could win the Super Bowl next season.
Rodgers said after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers that he wouldn’t be part of a rebuild. Therefore, we should expect more aggressive moves from the Packers. They might be using void years with current players to open cap space and sign outside names.
2. Rodgers won’t do this again next year
Signing a four-year extension indicates that Rodgers won’t play the retirement game every year as his predecessor Brett Favre did in the mid-2000s. Rodgers wants to be in Green Bay and retire a Packer, which he achieved with this new contract.
3. Davante Adams stays
As part of the Rodgers extension, which opens up important cap space, the Packers could apply the franchise tag to wide receiver Davante Adams. There was no real chance the Packers would let Adams walk in free agency, but now we know he’s staying. We have to see if the Packers intend to sign a long-term extension with Adams or let him play under the tag and see what happens next season.
The #Packers have now officially franchise tagged WR Davante Adams, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2022
4. Jordan Love (probably) isn’t a big part of the future
Aaron Rodgers is under contract through 2026, and while he might not play all these years, it’s clear both parties want to stay together for at least the next two. And that’s exactly Jordan Love’s timeline.
Now it’s clear the Packers won’t take the fifth-year option on Love, so his contract ends after the 2023 season. Green Bay may keep Love to be the backup for two more years and maybe even extend him after that if they still plan to use him as the future starter, but they haven’t shown any confidence in him so far.
So isn’t it wiser to trade Love for as much as you can and use the extra capital to build around Rodgers? Especially in a year with a lousy quarterback class in the draft and few options in free agency, the Packers may be able to find a trade partner willing to give up something significant.
5. Flexibility isn’t bad planning
The immediate reaction by a lot of people was: Drafting Jordan Love was a huge mistake, and now you can’t dispute it. Well, maybe that’s partially true. But the Packers built flexibility by drafting a developing quarterback prospect over some guys they didn’t believe were first-round talents.
In April 2020, nobody knew Rodgers would win back-to-back MVPs. He hadn’t had a great season since 2016. So, although the timing was strange, the pick made some sense. Two years later, Rodgers has been the best quarterback in the NFL, and Love hasn’t developed as the Packers would like. It’s fair to say the decision to keep Rodgers became obvious, but it wasn’t so obvious in 2020.
6. The NFC is a mess, and the Packers know it
Tom Brady retired, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have no decent quarterback under contract. Sean Payton retired, and the New Orleans Saints don’t have a good QB either. The 49ers will probably trade Jimmy Garoppolo and bet on Trey Lance to be good right away. We still don’t know if the Rams will be able to keep Von Miller and Odell Beckham. The Seattle Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to Denver.
There’s much more uncertainty in the NFC than last season, and the Packers will be the favorites again. Okay, they had the No. 1 seed in 2020 and 2021 and couldn’t win the Super Bowl, but the best chance to win it is to be competitive every year.
