Aaron Rodgers agreed to a team-friendly adjustment to his contract last year, right after being traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets . In theory, it's a three-year, $112.5 million deal ($37.5 million yearly average), with small cap hits year after year. In 2024, Rodgers is making $38.161 million, with a $17.161 million cap hit.
But that's not exactly what the situation really is. The Jets and Rodgers know that this is a year-to-year proposition, and his contract makes it clear.
ESPN's NFL national reporter Dan Graziano wrote a piece about teams that can change their quarterbacks in 2025, and the Jets predictably are in there.
"Regardless of how this season goes for the Jets, it's clear that Rodgers is on a year-to-year evaluation plan when it comes to how much longer he intends to play. He's signed through 2025, and should he retire after 2024, the Jets would have to deal with a large dead money hit. But that doesn't matter since he has shown a willingness to adjust his contract to make life easier for them. It's all about this year for Rodgers and the Jets. They'll figure out the rest once this season is over."
Graziano says that the most likely scenario is that the Jets have a mediocre to good season, with Rodgers struggling a little bit coming back from his Achilles injury. "Rodgers drags out his retirement decision but eventually decides to come back and try again at 41," he wrote. The less likely but still possible scenario is a championship, and if Rodgers wants to retire after that, general manager Joe Douglas could go after a veteran like Kirk Cousins to keep things afloat.
What his contract says
When Aaron Rodgers signed his three-year adjusted deal with the Jets, it was clear that it was actually a two-years-and-we'll-see deal. He's slated to make $37.5 million in 2025, but the Jets have to make a decision relatively soon, because Rodgers has a non-guaranteed $35 million roster bonus.
If the Jets want to keep him and he wants to keep playing, the team can take the hit and probably restructure it, converting the roster bonus into a new signing bonus — this would make his cap hit in 2025 go down to $23.5 million.
But as previously mentioned, there are no guarantees left beyond 2024. Rodgers has a no-trade clause, and the Jets can't tag him after 2025. Putting all these pieces together, if the quarterback wants to play in New York next season, the parties will sit down and find a new agreement.
If Aaron Rodgers wants to retire or requests a release to play elsewhere, the Jets would have to handle $49 million in dead money — moving Rodgers to the reserve/retired list or designating him as a post June 1st release would allow them to have that number split into two years, $14 million in 2025 and $35 million in 2026.
Based on how the contract is structured, it's clear that the Jets are making it a year-to-year situation. They want to compete for a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers, and once that window closes, they know a tough pill to swallow will incur. That's why a quarterback succession plan is not a huge need at this point — that's a problem Joe Douglas will handle only once Rodgers retires or goes away, and it's hard to blame the executive for this plan.
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