Packers trying to complete restructured contract for QB Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers are working on an important piece of business regarding their MVP quarterback.

According to Michael Silver of NFL Network, the Packers are attempting to complete a restructured contract for Aaron Rodgers, although it’s unclear if the negotiation is centered around a simple restructure or a bigger extension.

“They are working on that,” Silver said Monday. “But it’s a tricky situation.”

The Packers passed on converting Rodgers’ $6.8 million roster bonus into a signing bonus this past week, but his contract includes a base salary of almost $15 million in 2021 that could also be converted and free up salary cap space. The Packers could also add years to his deal and make a long-term commitment.

Both options would push cap money into coming years and, in theory, complicate any future transition to Jordan Love, the team’s first-round pick in 2020.

The Packers have had the option to convert his base salary or roster bonus into a signing bonus all offseason but haven’t used it, possibly suggesting an extension – which would require an agreement from both sides, and more time and creativity – is in the works.

Rodgers, 37, has three years left on his current deal. He has expressed an unwavering desire to finish his career in Green Bay, and he gained some leverage over the situation when he created an MVP season in 2020.

The Packers could leave his contract alone and just play out the situation year by year, or they could commit to Rodgers, who looks like he’ll be capable of playing at a high level for at least a few more seasons, and begin abandoning the idea of Love ever being the starting quarterback.

The contract is a defining piece of the puzzle. It’s a tricky situation, as Silver said, but it’s also a telling one. What the Packers do – or don’t do – with Rodgers’ contract is likely to be the defining part of the team’s offseason.

List

All the moves the Packers made to get under the salary cap to start 2021