Packers Better Hurry Up and Extend Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers have been planning to sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a contract extension for at least a year. Well, the longer they wait, the more expensive it’s going to get, especially now that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has decided he wants Drew Brees money.

First, let’s recap before we explain just how absurd that is.

Rodgers has two seasons left on his current contract, which pays him an average of $10 million per season. When compared to the league’s best — Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady — Rodgers is what you’d call underpaid. He makes an average of $5 million less than Brady, $9 million less than Manning and $10 million less than Brees per season.

Last offseason, the Saints signed Brees to the biggest contract in NFL history. It averages $20 million per season and included $40 million guaranteed. So, the bar for Rodgers’ new deal was set.

Now, things are about to get a little bit out of whack. Why?

Flacco will be a free agent this offseason and he’s aiming for Brees money.

“He’s now made a case for $20 million a year,” ESPN’s John Clayton said. “And I think he’s gonna try to hold to that. Last season what I was hearing was he was asking for about $17 million. … But he was saying ‘okay fine, let me play this out.’ Now he’s in a position to make big money. And we’ll see if he can get over Drew Brees’ contract. I think he can.”

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen agreed that the “$20 million figure is not unreachable” for Flacco.

This wouldn’t really be notable if Brady were asking for that kind of money, but Joe Flacco is no Tom Brady (or Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Colin Kaepernick…)

You get the picture. Yeah, Joey Flacco has got his team in the Super Bowl, but I don’t give a shit what anyone says. Joey Flacco is not an elite quarterback. Joey is not even a very good quarterback.

He’s a decent quarterback on a pretty good team.

Here’s how many All Pro selections Joe Flacco has: zero. Here’s how many Pro Bowls he’s made: zero. Here’s how many Super Bowls he’s won: zero. Here’s how many seasons he’s thrown for 4,000 yards: zero. Here’s how many seasons he’s thrown for more than 25 TDs: zero. Here’s how many seasons his QB rating has been 100 or more: zero. Here’s how many seasons he’s thrown less than 10 interceptions: zero.

Get the picture?

Joe Flacco is perfectly average. The best thing you can say about him is he has a big arm. That’s right. Not “he’s a winner.” Not “that’s the guy I’d pick first to lead my team.” Not “he’s the smartest quarterback I’ve seen.”

Big arm.

Is this guy worth $20 million a year?

No way in hell, but he’ll probably get something like that. Flacco holds all the leverage now that he’s in the Super Bowl and Baltimore is tethered to him. They drafted him to be their franchise quarterback. They’ve stuck with him since day one. They can’t very well let him walk just because he’s not a superstar.

So if this bum gets $20 million a year, what does Rodgers deserve? You can bet his agent isn’t starting negotiations at anything less than $25 million per season.

In other words, it would behoove the Packers to move quickly. If they get Rodgers for anything less than $20 million a year, they’ve done well.