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He was the first NFL player to reach an annual salary of $50 million at the Green Bay Packers, but after being traded to the New York Jets in 2023, Aaron Rodgers’ net worth—most significantly his salary—will take a bit of a hit.
Rodgers was drafted to play in the National Football League in 2005 by the Green Bay Packers as a backup for Brett Favre for his first three years. In 2008, he was Green Bay’s starting quarterback and by 2010, he’d led them to a Super Bowl Victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was awarded league MPV and named Associated Press’ Athlete of the Year in 2011.
But after the Packers suffered through the 2022/2023 season, the four-time MVP said during a regular appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in March 2023 that “the Packers would like to move on. They’ve let me know that in so many words. They’ve let other people know that in direct words.” He continued, expressing his desire to relocate: “And because I still have that fire and I want to play and I would like to play in New York, it’s just a matter of getting that done at this point.” Here’s how that move will affect his considerable fortune.
What is Aaron Rodgers’ net worth?
Aaron Rodger’s net worth has been estimated at $200 million per Celebrity Net Worth, which makes him one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Rodgers began his football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the University of California for the Golden Bears. He would set several career records during that time, including the lowest single-season and career interception rates.
What is Aaron Rodgers’ Jets salary?
Aaron Rodgers. Photo by Aubrey Lao /Getty Images
In agreeing to the trade, the Jets acquired Rodgers’ contract from Green Bay, which includes nearly $60m in salary and bonuses this season. However, that can be spread across the next two seasons, meaning it will count a manageable $15.8m and $32.5m against the Jets’ cap in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The Packers had to cop $40.3m in dead money on their salary cap.
Meanwhile, Rodgers reportedly also gave the Jets a “wish list of free agents” to sign with him to New York, including players he worked closely with at Green Bay, like wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, as well as tight end Marcedes Lewis. TheScore.com reported Lazard and the Jets agreed to terms on a four-year, $44 million contract.
What was Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay salary?
Aaron Rodgers. Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
As part of Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay salary, he became the NFL’s first $50 million per year player in March 2022; his contract was to be a little over $150 million over three years and it was seen to be one of the NFL’s most complex contract structures with the star player. Through the 2021-2022 season, Rodgers earned a total of $263 million in NFL salary alone.
But the Packer’s 2022/2023 wasn’t all that stellar and football pundits (unfairly sometimes) tend to blame the quarterback when the team’s performance deteriorates. In March 2023, Rodgers made his intentions clear on The Pat McAfee Show that he wanted to move to the New York Jets. He explained that negotiations had stalled because of questions about his remuneration. “I haven’t been holding anything up at this point it’s been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me, kind of digging their heels in, I think it is interesting at this point to step back and look at the whole picture,” he said.
In 2022, the Packers signed Rodgers to a three-year extension deal worth $150 million, the highest in terms of annual average income. He was set to bring in another $59.4 million guaranteed salary next season, the highest-ever salary doled out to an NFL player for a single season, which meant the Packers needed to find a team willing to absorb the cap hit from Rodgers’ $58.3 million option bonus for the 2023 season.
Multiple sources told ProFootballTalk that the Packers want more than a first-round pick as part of the base deal. “They want protection in 2025, in the event Rodgers plays in 2024. And that’s more than the Jets believe they should surrender for a player the Packers no longer want,” the site speculated. “If the Jets are willing to offer something like a conditional package that would entail as much as a second-round pick this year and up to a second-round pick next year, the Packers would be nuts to not take it.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday, March 16, 2023, that the two sides were “not close” on agreeing on the trade as of the night before. “All I can tell you is that Green Bay believes it’s right, the Jets believe they’re right and now we wait to see how the two sides can find a way to somehow meet in the middle and come up with a simple solution,” Schefter said.
“That’s where the two sides are right now, far apart… More complicated is the fact that the Jets and the Green Bay Packers have to figure out compensation on what it would take to acquire Aaron Rodgers—and my understanding is that within the Packers organization, they felt that he was worth a package that was similar to the one that the Rams once got for Matthew Stafford,” Schefter said, adding that the Jets “have to figure out what they’re willing to pay.”
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