Matthew Stafford Might Be Aaron Rodgers’ Breaking Point

This whole quarterback contract merry-go-round is getting interesting. On Thursday, we noted that Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had become the highest-paid player in the league in terms of average salary. In turn, that pushed Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers further down that list.

We also noted that both Washington’s Kirk Cousins and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford are likely to get new deals soon.

Rodgers has said he’s not worried about his contract, but he also noted when the Bears threw $15 million a year at free agent Mike Glennon.

Rodgers’ average salary is $22 million, but forget about that for a moment. The raw numbers are as follows.

• 2017: $12.55 million salary, plus $1.1 million in bonuses (workout and roster)
• 2018: $19.8 million salary, plus $1.1 million in bonuses
• 2019: $20 million salary, plus $1.1 million in bonuses

The Packers have structured the deal so that the cap hits over the next three years are between $20.3 million and $21.1 million.

Those numbers aside, it is being suggested that a Stafford deal that surpasses his own, could be a breaking point for Rodgers.

“[Stafford’s] new deal will be in the $25 million-a-year range and could be slightly higher,” an AFC GM told Mike Freeman. “The key to watch is Aaron [Rodgers]. If Stafford gets a new deal for that much, I can’t blame Aaron for wanting more. Stafford’s deal could lead to a showdown between Aaron and the Packers.”

We couldn’t really blame Rodgers either.

If you compare those two resumes, Rodgers’ is obviously much more impressive.

That’s the thing about NFL contracts though. It isn’t about merit, it’s about timing.

We doubt Rodgers is going to sit around until 2020 waiting for a raise in light of what’s currently going on around the league.