From PFT
$28 MILLION IN FIRST THREE YEARS FOR RODGERS
Posted by Mike Florio on October 31, 2008, 9:56 p.m. EDT
More details are trickling out regarding the contract signed on Friday by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
We’re told that he’ll make $28 million over the next three years, and that the new money on his contract is $63.5 million over five years.
That’s an average of $12.7 million per year, which puts him currently in the top five of all NFL players.
Not bad for a guy with seven starts and four wins in his career.
Still, the contract is light on guaranteed money. Most elite players are getting $30 million or more guaranteed.
That said, Rodgers will be very well paid — if he stays healthy and if he remains effective.
$20 MILLION GUARANTEED FOR RODGERS
Posted by Mike Florio on October 31, 2008, 4:46 p.m. EDT
The contract signed Friday by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers pay him big money. But not huge money.
But we’d take it if we could get it.
According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, Rodgers will receive $20 million guaranteed on a six-year, $65 million deal.
The contract falls short of the deal signed last year by Tony Romo of the Cowboys, who’ll receiver $67 million over six years, and who got $30 million guaranteed. And Romo’s deal was criticized in some circles for not pushing north the high-water mark for high-end quarterbacks.
After three years of sitting on the bench (and losing plenty of money via unachievable play-time incentives), Rodgers likely opted to take what he could get now in lieu of pushing for free agency after the 2009 season.
Absent an extension to the CBA, Rodgers would have been eligible for restricted free agency only after next season, because the rules of the uncapped year (set for 2010) require players to have six or more seasons in order to achieve unrestricted free agency.