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Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers agreed to a monster four-year, $134 million extension, according to NFL.com. A record $100 million of that is guaranteed. Ian Rapoport also reports that the two-time NFL MVP will receive a record $57.5 million signing bonus and will earn more than $80 million by March. Rodgers is now the league’s highest player at $33.5 million per year.
Did you just mouth ‘holy shit’ to yourself? I did too.
$135 million: Brett Favre’s on-field career earnings.
$315 million: Aaron Rodgers on- field career earnings if he earns out complete extension through 2023 season.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 29, 2018
Rodgers’ gigantic extension was likely leveraged by the hefty extensions of his quarterbacking peers–Matt Ryan ($30 million per year average), Kirk Cousins ($28 million) and Jimmy Garoppolo ($27.5 million).
Fans are mixed over where they stand on the 34-year-old becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Aaron Rodgers is worth every single dollar.
— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) August 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/WillPresti/status/1034862305073422336
Aaron Rodgers is the Michael Jordan of the NFL. He’s the most talented QB ever. He’s worth every single penny.
— Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) August 29, 2018
$100 million guaranteed for Aaron Rodgers… Wow!
That's exactly $100 million per ring.
— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) August 29, 2018
Aaron Rodgers signed for what?! pic.twitter.com/YhCmnCTv6V
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) August 29, 2018
For reference, Tom Brady has taken an estimated $60 million in pay cuts to keep his Patriots in contention year after year, making him arguably the biggest bargain in professional sports. In 2017, Brady’s salary cap hit of $13.7 million ranked 27th in the NFL, just behind Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson.
Is Rodgers’ extension good for the Packers as a whole or will it hinder their team performance?
[h/t NFL]