Aaron Rodgers contract breakdown: Details on Packers QB’s new deal revealed

Money can’t fix everything, apparently.

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are together for one more year in Green Bay, with the quarterback and the organization agreeing to a reworked contract that could keep Rodgers in a Packers uniform through the 2022 season — unless we sing this same song and do this same dance after the 2021 season.

Rodgers’ tell-all press conference on Wednesday revealed that his situation with the Packers was about pretty much everything but the money. That doesn’t mean that the money and job security don’t matter to the QB.

BENDER: Rodgers must deliver for Packers in 2021

According to reports, here’s what Rodgers is set to make in 2021, which very well could be his last year in Green Bay.

Aaron Rodgers contract breakdown

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had full details on Rodgers’ reworked deal. It’s a little messy, as all NFL contracts usually are, but here’s the general gist of it:

— Should Rodgers be traded before June 1, 2022, the Packers would be left with $27 million in dead cap, but save just about $19 million against the cap. This allows Rodgers to be traded before the 2022 NFL Draft, which is when his market would be hottest. Originally, Rodgers would have been able to be traded after this season with no real cap implications. But if Rodgers still wants out, then it’s going to really hurt the Packers in 2022 with that dead cap number.

— Upon signing the new deal, Rodgers saves the Packers about $10 million in cap space this year, giving Green Bay some wiggle room before the start of the season.

— Because of the void year added in Rodgers’ deal after 2022, Rodgers is unable to be franchise tagged by the Packers, meaning he’ll be a true free agent after the 2022 season, as long as he plays out both years on his current deal.

— Should Rodgers choose to retire after the 2021 season, then he won’t actually have to forfeit $11.5 million of his signing bonus, instead forcing the Packers to either trade or release him, and making it easier for Rodgers to walk away from the game, if he so chooses.

Things could get messy if the Packers and Rodgers are at each other’s throats once again after the 2021 season, but given the paychecks coming Rodgers’ way, it’s hard to say whether Rodgers will be in Green Bay green and gold next year.

It’s all a bit technical, but the important thing is that Rodgers potentially has the job security he craved for at least one more year, or he gets the trade he wanted all along. The Packers may get another year of one of the baddest dudes on the planet under center — if all goes well in 2021. Sounds like a win-win for both sides.

Sorry, Jordan Love.