Packers positioned for future Aaron Rodgers extension... The Debate Begins

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp...positioned-future-rodgers-extension/99702358/

Rodgers has three years remaining on his contract, which runs through the end of 2019. He had two years left on his contract when he last signed his $110 million extension in 2013.
The Packers are financially prepared for a major extension. They have roughly $24 million in cap space after signing four free agents from other teams, the most Thompson has signed in one spring since his second offseason. They figure to roll a big chunk of that money — perhaps as much as $10 million — into 2018, which could be an optimal time to extend Rodgers.

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I am going on record that an extension before the end of the 2018 season is a mistake. At that point your looking at a 36 yr old QB. Do you try to squeeze out 2-3 yrs or do you move him and regroup ? Can't side step the end game forever.

Mark87 said:

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp...positioned-future-rodgers-extension/99702358/



I am going on record that an extension before the end of the 2018 season is a mistake. At that point your looking at a 36 yr old QB. Do you try to squeeze out 2-3 yrs or do you move him and regroup ? Can't side step the end game forever.

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Interesting article. They do a heckuva job of giving a lot of non-descript answers. I know they like to keep things tight to the vest, as most teams and GM's do, but you could almost look at those comments in 2 different ways, ie..Pro or Anti extension.

This thread has the potential of being one of the all-time greats. I can't wait to see everyone else's take on the subject.

My guess would be that GB believes they can get him cheaper now rather then wait. I would tend to agree that's a mistake with 3 yrs left on the deal. I use the carrot of an extension and see if he still has the yips this season before committing any further in the future. My thoughts on it.

Three posts already, and no 'it all depends on how it's structured' comment? Pros - obscene pro sports money gets worse every year, so anything even remotely reasonable now will be a bargain in a few years; odds are against another great QB right after Favre/Rodgers, so, yes, try to squeeze what you can out of this one. Con - unlike most other QBs who perform well in late-30s and beyond, so much of AR's game is overall athletic ability, and that sort of thing is never going to improve with age.

I don't think a ext happens this year at all. Ted has to many other starters that will be coming up as FA after this season. He has Dix to look at who he has to sign or pay the 5th year option to. Adams, Linsley, Taylor and Burnett will all be FA after the season. When you have that many starters looking to be FA you have to work on them first then trying to extend your QB who has 3 years left under contract.

In an ideal world, you'd wait until the last year of the deal to renew, but man, with the QB crunch we see in the league, it almost seems like you have to take a chance on keeping a veteran around as long as he's willing to play.

By the end of next season almost half the starting QBs in the league will be 30 or older. Heck depending on how things shake out there could be 8-10 that are older than AR. Almost seems like you have to take the gamble.

I'd do it after this coming season and before the new league year with money you have left over from this season's CAP. Sure, you'll have FA's to deal with next off-season, but what year won't you have them. With most guys doing on-average 4 year deals, the math says you will have 4-6 starters to re-sign every year. Next year's crop isn't that bad. HHCD will command some money, but I doubt he gets as much as Perry. Linsley and Taylor are interior linemen without Lang's track record. I doubt they command crazy money, and as we've seen, if they do, TT lets them go. Burnett may also cash in some, but his contract is already big and I would be surprised if he gets much of a raise. They have enough space to extend AR and keep 4-5 of their starters who are in their last year.

I'd wait another year for sure. ARod's style of play is NOT the safe way Brady plays.(Lots of dump offs, short patterns.) ARod puts himself in danger time and time again. Another year might give you a better idea of how long he can actually keep it up. Follow the same extension formula that was used last time. Front load it with bonus money so when his time is over we don't suffer the 'dead money' hit.

He will of course get a ridiculous contract from TT. Which will mean signing less of the other guys mentioned and reliance on more UDFA and leftovers due to less cap and $$. Rinse, repeat......

Only reason I can see Packers do something now is they say ok we extend him 3 years at 25 a year now or wait 2 years and extend him at 3 years and pay him 28-30 a year.