According to CBS Sports, Rodgers still has three years left on his four-year, $134 million contract extension after the 2020 season. The Packers could decide to move on before the contract is up, but would face more than $30 million in dead salary cap money if they released him in the next year. That makes it unlikely the Packers would move on from Rodgers this offseason.
Making a weekly appearance on a podcast with former NFL player Pat McAfee and former teammate A.J. Hawk, Rodgers said Tuesday there wasn’t any hidden meaning in his words.
“I don’t feel like I said anything that I hadn’t said before,” Rodgers said on the podcast. “It was just more of a realization I think that ultimately my future is not necessarily in my control.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason I wouldn’t be back,” Rodgers added.
Rodgers said he was giving an honest answer shortly after the loss, and spending some time with teammates that may not be back next season. He says it’s a fact of life in the NFL that next season isn’t guaranteed for any player, including him, despite an MVP-caliber season.
“I’m 15 minutes from crying with my teammates in the locker room, and then I come in and do this interview and they ask me questions, and I give real answers,” Rodgers said. “To me the reality, not a certainty or an absolute, is that my future is not in my hands. That’s really the case for all of us as players.”
The Packers are facing a potential salary cap crunch next season, with the team potentially being unable to keep key players like All-Pro center Corey Linsley and running back Aaron Jones as they enter free agency.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made it known he wants to see Rodgers back next season. Speculation about Rodgers’ future increased last year, when the team traded up in the first round of the NFL Draft to select quarterback Jordan Love.
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