Confused Why Aaron Rodgers Hasn’t Been Traded Yet? Here’s a Simple Reason Why the QB Is Still in Green Bay
Josh Frey
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This offseason started off with a bang, particularly surrounding QB news. Lamar Jackson’s status in Baltimore was (and still is) very much up for debate, and everyone expected Aaron Rodgers to be traded, especially after he officially requested to be moved to the New York Jets.
However, things have significantly quieted down since then, especially on the Rodgers trade discussions. This has caused some confusion as to what the hold up on a trade could be now that he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be in Green Bay anymore.
Well, before we dive too far into conspiracy theories or begin preying on Green Bay’s hilarious downfall (but we’ve done all that too if you’re interested), there may be a simple explanation as to why the Packers QB isn’t on the New York Jets roster yet.
If you look at Rodgers’ contract with the Packers, the numbers that immediately jump out are the ridiculous cap hits of $59.3 million in 2025 and $53.4 million in 2026. Reminder, Rodgers will be 42 and 43 years of age during these seasons. However, potential second thoughts from New York, while certainly legitimate, are probably not the main reason why the trade hasn’t gone down yet.
Instead, we need to turn to this year’s money for Rodgers to find the real reason why Rodgers is still a Packer. Upon peeking at the contract via Over the Cap, you’ll notice the cap hit for this year is $31.6 million, a very reasonable amount for the 2021 MVP.
That number isn’t the concerning one. Rather, we have to slide over a bit on the contract to see the potential problem: the dead money total. If Rodgers were to be traded prior to June 1st, the Packers would take on $40,313,570 in dead money, adding over $8 million to their salary cap total for this year.
Meanwhile, if Green Bay moved him on June 2nd or later, the dead money is down to $15,833,570, saving the Packers a total of $24,480,000 if we take into account the extra money they’d spend by trading him, say, during the draft.
For a team that had to scratch and claw their way to $21 million in cap space this offseason (and is projected to pay their draft class $11,386,382 this spring), this is not an insignificant amount. Green Bay likely wants a hefty amount of draft capital in return if they are to make this trade now rather than over the summer.
But that brings up another problem in that Rodgers gave up nearly all the Packers leverage in this situation by saying himself that he wants to be a New York Jet rather than simply saying he wants to be traded. Why would New York trade away a king’s ransom in draft capital in order to acquire a QB that 1) wants to be there anyway and 2) is not guaranteed to stick around longer than a year or two depending on his mindset?
On Monday, NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport reported that talks have begun between the two sides once again, with the goal of reaching a deal ‘this week’. However, with this being such a unique situation, it feels like there is a real chance that this wears on into the summer. Alas, we shall see. If the Packers are able to get a substantial draft package in return, it only adds to what already looks like an incredibly wild week as the 2023 NFL Draft approaches.
UPDATE: Ignore everything speculated here. Your author struck the worst luck of all-time, and three hours after this was posted, Rodgers was traded to the Jets.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.