Joe Flacco’s Contract Means Big Money for Aaron Rodgers
By Josh Hill
Joe Flacco is set to finalize his $120.6 million contract today, which means the supposed best quarterback in the NFL is officially making substantially less than the rest of his group. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is widely regarded as the most talented quarterback in the NFL today, yet he’s making roughly $10 million per season less than Flacco, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
Which means, we all knew Rodgers was going to get a fat payday when it comes time to re-do his deal with the Packers but thanks to Flacco’s monster deal, we now have a good idea of just how much Rodgers is set to make.
It’s a strange situation in Green Bay right now, as Rodgers and everyone around him knows that the former MVP is making substantially less than quarterbacks that could be argued as less talented than he is, yet he’s not complaining about it one bit. We haven’t heard any news out of Rodgers’ camp about a holdout or that these new deals for quarterbacks around the league means a new deal for him. There have been no angry, cryptic tweets and there have been no radio interviews demanding a higher salary.
Rodgers has been sacked almost more than any quarterback in the entire NFL over the last two seasons, which means he’s risking serious injury for what has amounted to just over $15 million. To put things in perspective: Rodgers has consistently been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the last four years and he’s set to make a base salary of $9.25 million in 2013. Joe Flacco hit a hot streak in the playoffs and is set to make just over $20 million in 2013.
Yet Rodgers remains committed to winning and refuses to raise his salary so that the Packers have cap space to sign players — or so the story goes. We don’t know for sure why Rodgers isn’t making a big deal about his contract, perhaps it’s just not in his character to whine until he gets paid what he’s actually worth.
His current deal is up after the 2014 season, which means Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan will all get new deals before Rodgers receives his. Once we reach 2014 and Rodgers knows exactly what the other top quarterbacks are getting around the league, all the chips get cashed in and the Packers checkbook takes a hit that it’s been putting off since 2008.