The Green Bay Packers are prepared to run it back and go all-in around quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2022.
If he’s willing, of course.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Packers are ready to spend up to the salary cap and push money into future years to accommodate building the best roster around Rodgers, who is still deciding his future in football. The hope internally is that the plan will help bring back Rodgers for 2022.
There’s really no other path forward for the Packers if the team wants the future Hall of Fame quarterback back for another season. The Packers are $50 million over the salary cap entering the offseason and will need every cent of the cap to retain key players and build a capable team around the quarterback position.
Rodgers, now 38 and coming off back-to-back NFL MVP awards, wants no part of a rebuild.
The Packers are in a tough salary cap position but it’s not untenable. General manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president Russ Ball can restructure or extend contracts using various cap mechanics to clear big chunks of cap space. In fact, the pair have over a dozen ways of reasonably clearing cap this offseason.
Rodgers’ contract and cap number will be a big part of the process.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the Packers are open to giving Rodgers a record-setting new deal worth at least $45 million per year. The idea would be to give Rodgers a ton of money upfront on a short-term deal while adding void years to the backend of the contract to spread out the cap hits of a massive signing bonus over many years, lowering his cap hit in 2022 and providing the Packers with much-needed financial flexibility.
This is the same blueprint the Packers followed in 2021. The team restructured every veteran contract possible and pushed money into the future to keep the core intact and give Rodgers and the Packers a chance to compete for a Super Bowl. Gutekunst and Ball are hoping a similar plan of roster-building in 2022 will entice Rodgers to give it at least one more shot in Green Bay.
The quarterback can either return, retire or request a trade elsewhere. He’s left all options on the table, but he’s also expecting to make a decision in the near future.
Going all-in now has future risks, especially if the Packers push millions and millions of dollars into future cap years. And re-signing Rodgers to a lucrative deal would increase the chances of Jordan Love never playing a significant role in Green Bay.
But for better or worse, the Packers appear committed to keeping their championship window open with a four-time MVP quarterback. Now, everyone – including the team – must wait on the decision from Rodgers.