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Super Bowl 57 may still be a few weeks away. But for 28 of the NFL’s 32 teams, the offseason is already well underway. And for more than a handful of them, that likely means what’s become the predominant storyline throughout the league in recent springs: Targeting somebody else’s starting quarterback.
This year, that could well mean acquiring the only active four-time NFL MVP. No, not Tom Brady … actually, Aaron Rodgers.
And, yes, the possibility seems to be growing that he could be on the move – much of it fueled by the longtime Green Bay Packers superstar himself.
“People want to say, ‘Oh, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.’ I always say the grass is green where you water it,” Rodgers said Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“Change is a part of this business. It’s a part of life. I think being open to it and embracing whatever that change looks like is an important part of coming to peace with whatever decision lies ahead of you.”
Coming off arguably the worst of his 15 seasons as the Pack’s QB1, Rodgers previously told McAfee that he thought 2022 was an aberration.
“Can I play at a high level? Yeah. The highest,” he said. “I think I can win MVP again in the right situation. Right situation, is that Green Bay, or is that somewhere else? I’m not sure, but I don’t think you should shut down any opportunity.”
Moving on from Rodgers would require the Packers to make a trade given an outright release would incur an untenable $100 million salary cap charge in 2023. A deal would reduce that figure to a more palatable $40 million – particularly since Green Bay would consequently been entering rebuild mode anyway – given whomever Rodgers plays for in 2023, be it the Packers or another team, would owe him $59.5 million.
The majority of that, $58.3 million, can be paid out as a bonus at any point prior to the start of the 2023 regular season. While that basically makes a move for Rodgers, 39, feasible, he’s already shared a willingness to negotiate that number since very few teams are financially positioned to add nearly $60 million to the payroll this year.