3 ways Packers can get out of cap hell, but keep Aaron Rodgers

1. Extend Aaron Rodgers with a signing bonus and some more guaranteed money

Ultimately, if the Packers want to get the salary cap under control and keep Rodgers, the front office will need to do some creative accounting with their most expensive player. Rodgers is not naive. He knows if they need to free up cap space, then he will have to either take a pay cut or agree to an extension with a new signing bonus and one that gives him more guaranteed money.

Rodgers is under contract for the next two years in Green Bay. He is a $46,664,157 cap hit in 2022, which accounts for 22.11 percent of the Packers’ salary cap. He has a base salary of $26,470,588 and a signing bonus of $16,321,569. Rodgers does not have a roster bonus, but has a $500,000 workout bonus, a $2.825 million restructure bonus and $520,000 in other bonuses.

If he wants to have more good players to play with next year, the front office and he will have to look at how to make this contract even more team-friendly. Then again, Rodgers may still want out. His former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is now calling the shots for the AFC West’s Denver Broncos. Yes, a trade can free up cap space, but this is not about moving Rodgers.

While other players make need to be released or have their contracts restructured, extending Rodgers to spread some of this money out over a longer period might be the Packers’ best course of action here.