Aaron Rodgers Revised Contract: Full breakdown of Jets QB's $75,000,000 deal
If there was any doubt over whether Aaron Rodgers was in it to win it, those concerns have now evaporated. The New York Jets quarterback moved from the Green Bay Packers in the offseason and as part of the trade, the Jets picked up his existing contract that had $110 million remaining for the next two years.
But the contract was set up in a way so as to not fall afoul of the salary cap next year. Most of the guaranteed money, nearly $107 million, was set for the next season which was an untenable position. Aaron Rodgers has since agreed to restructure his contract making that problem moot.
He has signed a restructured contract worth $75 million for two years, meaning he is taking a pay cut of nearly $35 million dollars over the contract period. It includes $75,000,000 guaranteed and an average annual salary of $37,500,000.
In 2023, the quarterback will earn a base salary of $1,838,888 and a signing bonus of $35,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $8,838,888 and a dead cap value of $75,000,000.
Source: Aaron Rodgers has agreed to a new two-year, $75 million contract — fully guaranteed, as @TomPelissero said. He’s taking a $35 million pay cut to play with the #Jets. Wow.
Aaron Rodgers goes all in to win Super Bowl
Taking such a massive pay cut means that Aaron Rodgers wishes to stay on for multiple years to try to win the all-elusive second Super Bowl of his career.
He told Rich Cimini:
"The team gave up significant pieces for it to just be a one-year deal. I'm aware of that. ... Anything could happen with my body or the success we have this year, but I'm having a blast, so I really don't see this as a one-year-and-done thing."
It signals that he believes in the team in a way that he never really did with the Green Bay Packers, despite such a long association. With his previous franchise, he was always frustrated with the lack of offensive tools given to him and was famously disgruntled with them hiring Jordan Love as his replacement.
Here, with the New York Jets bending over backward to bring in familiarity in Nathaniel Hackett, Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, things look different.
It also puts into perspective how much less he will be earning than some of the other quarterbacks in the league. He is now the 12th-highest-paid quarterback in the league behind Daniel Jones and tied with Derek Carr.
Some perspective on Rodgers’ new deal:
He’s tied for 12th among QBs in AAV — $37.5 M. Interestingly, he’s tied with Derek Carr..
They’re one spot below Daniel Jones ($40M). Source: OTC. #Jets
It points to a direction that Rodgers wants to take in the twilight of his career. He wants to win more Super Bowls to add to his first one with the Packers and possibly also get one or two more MVP awards to tie or even get past Peyton Manning's record.