Joe Flacco’s Contract Could Mean More Money for Aaron Rodgers
By Josh Hill
Joe Flacco is currently the highest profile free agent on the market right now, but you’re crazy to think that the Ravens will be letting him walk. Owner Steve Bisciotti has already said he’s willing to go over the $20 million threshold to keep Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP, in Baltimore for the forseeable future. But while it’s Flacco who’s about to get paid in Baltimore, another quarterback is paying very close attention to the outcome of the negotiations.
Aaron Rodgers isn’t thinking about when he’s going to be getting a new contract from the Packers, but whatever happens with Flacco will no doubt impact his next deal.
While Flacco is currently the darling of the NFL, he’s not the best quarterback in the league. Aaron Rodgers is largely regarded at the No. 1 signal caller in the pros, which means whatever Flacco gets paid, Rodgers will likely seek a similar deal in a few years.
Like the Ravens, there is no way the Packers would ever let Rodgers walk, barring some bizarre falling out. But Rodgers is an unrestricted free agent in 2015, which means if the Packers are serious about keeping him, they’ll need to have a deal worked out sometime in the next two years before his contract officially expires.
Rodgers admitted that while he’s keeping a close watch on what Flacco ultimately gets paid, he’s not the only guy doing so.
“I think everybody is going to see what Joe ends up signing for,” Rodgers said, via ESPNWisconsin.com. “I’m sure they want to lock him up. He’s a great player — had an incredible run in the playoffs — and I’m sure they want to keep him around. A guy like that, with the post-season success he’s had, you want to keep a guy like that around for a while.”
Again, Rodgers deal isn’t up until 2015, so there is ample time for the Packers to re-negotiate his deal. But while we know the Packers will be keeping him in Green Bay, it’s Flacco and his deal that will give us all a ballpark of what it will cost the Packers to do so.