NFL players sacrifice plenty over the course of a season, especially those on the team fortunate enough to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
In the case of New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, his latest “sacrifice” – as head coach Robert Saleh himself put it – involves a pay cut he took in the form of a restructured contract, NFL Network reported on Wednesday, that will pay him nearly $35 million less over two years.
Taking less money, according to agent Leigh Steinberg, signals that Rodgers is willing to be financially flexible to pursue a goal other than enriching himself: a Super Bowl with the organization that pulled off the blockbuster of the offseason by acquiring him from the Green Bay Packers in April.
“This is the case of somebody putting his desire to win where his mouth is,” Steinberg told USA TODAY Sports by phone on Thursday.
But let’s not forget the obvious, either.
“He’s still making major money,” Steinberg said of Rodgers, whose has already surpassed $300 million in career earnings entering his 19th season in the league, according to Spotrac.com. “But his willingness to accept less guaranteed money is a signal of his desire to pursue future Super Bowl championships with this team.”
Rodgers was due nearly $110 million in guarantees from the contract extension he signed in March 2022, which could have paid him potentially $150 million over three seasons.
“It is unselfish,” Steinberg said. “But it shows good, balanced values. That after all the years he’s played, he understands the importance of winning and the value of winning and doing everything in his power to help his team win.”
The restructuring of the deal has been part of the plan with Rodgers ever since trade talks were initiated, Saleh told reporters Thursday.
“I think it says a lot when the best player on your football team and a Hall of Famer is willing to sacrifice something because he wants to win, which is ultimately what we’re all here to do,” Saleh said. “Yes, money and all that stuff, fame, all that good stuff, but at the end of the day, we’re all happy when we win.”
According to Overthecap.com, Rodgers now has a cap hit of $8.89 million in 2023, less than backup quarterback and former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson ($9.6 million).
Whether there is now sufficient relief to allow the Jets and general manager Joe Douglas to pursue an option such as free agent running back Dalvin Cook remains to be seen.
“His flexibility is giving them the opportunity to put together a better supporting cast and give them a better chance to get to the playoffs and beyond,” Steinberg said.
The strategy of teams asking the franchise quarterback to take less money to spread cash across the rest of the roster has existed for decades. In New England, the Patriots and Tom Brady had a series of team-friendly deals that reportedly played a factor in Brady’s departure in 2020. Steinberg restructured the deals of past Hall of Fame clients Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers) and Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys), both Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, “repetitively.”
The deals were “at best neutral, in terms of economic impact, but at certain points, required them to take less money,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg’s current marquee client, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, in 2020 signed what at the time was the richest deal in league history at $450 million over 10 years. It is now the seventh-highest contract in the league by annual average value, with some viewing it as a team-friendly pact.
Steinberg did not want to discuss Mahomes’ deal specifically. But the Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“It just shows a heightened awareness, over time, of what’s really important,” Steinberg said.
Players aren’t always as amenable. Recently, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and COO Kevin Demoff have presented differing accounts of whether the front office has approached the Super Bowl 56 champion about a restructure. Regardless, Stafford’s deal remained unchanged.
The soaring numbers at the position make them an easy target for front offices, Steinberg said. The fix? Knocking down the guaranteed money in year one and extending the life of the contracts. For cap purposes, two extra years – known as “void years” – were added to Rodgers’ deal, per reports.
“The paradox is having a massively compensated quarterback while at the same time giving him a chance to go to the Super Bowl,” Steinberg said. “It’s always been a balance.”
Steinberg said the pay cut is another notch for what he called “the resurgence of Aaron Rodgers,” different from the “sort of misunderstood” quarterback he came across as toward the end of his tenure in Green Bay.
This is a “kinder, gentler” Rodgers who is signaling that his priority of squeezing the most out of his career. Reports indicate Rodgers, 39, has significantly impacted the professionalism and sense of urgency in the Jets’ building.
“Anything could happen with my body or the success we have this year,” Rodgers said Wednesday when asked about the restructure, via ESPN. “But I’m having a blast, so I really don’t see this as a one-year-and-done thing.”
Steinberg likened the franchise quarterback to movie stars of yesteryear.
“Winning can transform them from a sports hero,” he said, “into a household name.”
Rodgers is one of the most decorated players of his era with almost every career accolade imaginable, including a Super Bowl MVP, Steinberg said.
Lowering the amount of the direct deposit is all about adding to the trophy case of the team – not necessarily that of one person.
Said Steinberg: “It shows the evolution of the player.”
