Turns Out There’s a $45,000,000 Secret Behind Aaron Rodgers’ Not So Smooth Welcome to New York

It’s going to be a season of change for the New York Jets. And not just for them. 4X MVP Aaron Rodgers is also going through a period of transition as he settles down in his new home in New York. After being traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Jets, the fans are hopeful of the 39-year-old bringing in a Super Bowl championship to the franchise, something which they haven’t won since the days of Joe Namath in 1969. 

Despite the hype around A-Rod following the footsteps of Brett Favre in New York, his transition has not been very smooth-sailing. He recently suffered a minor injury on his calf during the OTA, which led to him missing out on four practice days straight. Now, as he rehabilitates, the teams expect Aaron Rodgers to participate properly from next week. And apart from this, his contract has also been a point of discussion at the Jets’ front office. And now there is a new $45 million update surrounding his contract restructuring.

A $45 million leeway  

To recap, before the trade, Aaron Rodgers converted $58.3 million of his 2023 option bonus into a base salary for 2024. By doing so, the 39-year-old QB is going to make $1.165 million in the 2023 season, while carrying a compensation of around $107 million for 2024. The Jets have been figuring out a way to restructure the contract to make it more feasible for them in 2023 as well as 2024. And now, a recent article by ESPN states how the Jets have been moving around their money in the offseason to build a more feasible cap space to integrate a restructured Aaron Rodgers contract.

According to the article, the Jets have restructured seven contracts this offseason, including key free-agent signings from 2021 to 2022. Safety Jordan Whitehead is the latest player to rework his deal. According to his new contract, the team converted $5.3 million of his $10.2 million in 2023 into a signing bonus while also adding four years void into the deal. This led to the team creating a whopping $45.2 million in salary cap space. Six of their seven negotiated contracts have void years, which allows them to spread the cap hit over the remaining years of those contracts. According to Over the Cap, the Jets now have $24.5 million in cap space, the fourth most in the NFL at the moment. This will be used to cover the restructured Aaron Rodgers contract, which should be negotiated in the next couple of days.

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Prior to this, NFL insider Mike Florio also talked about how the Jets can rework the contract of their QB without taking a big hit themselves. 

Mike Florio’s assessment of the A-Rod contract restructure. 

In a recent episode of NFL on NBC, Mike Florio talked about his discussions with Jets GM Joe Douglas on the situation surrounding Rodgers’ contract. Florio stated that if the 39-year-old QB only plays for this season, then the Jets would want to compensate something close to $58.3 million this year. He also talked about the possibility of how Rodgers could ask his agent to reduce the number as a “favor to the Jets.” By doing so, Rodgers will boost the team into signing more players and talents to surround him with on the field. He talked about how the team has to make up their mind on the amount they want to retain this year and how much they want to carry on into 2024 before negotiations. 

It will be interesting to see how the Jets decide on the restructuring negotiations with their newly acquired QB. Will it be a smart take to make it more feasible for them? Or will they make a mistake and bring a tougher financial burden upon them? 

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