Packers: Is Aaron Rodgers’ Saga Holding Up Davante Adams’ Extension?

We learned on Thursday from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the Green Bay Packers and star wide receiver Davante Adams are “expected” to work on a “massive extension” that would likely make him the highest-paid wide receiver in football.

But during Fowler’s appearance on SportsCenter, we also learned another interesting bit of information, which is that everything going on between Aaron Rodgers and the Packers could be holding up Adams’ extension:

"“The problem is Rodgers’ contract has been an albatross for that team, it’s hindered them from doing some other contracts and things they want to do with the team-building standpoint. So, they’ve got to shake that out first. They’re willing to give Rodgers probably whatever he wants right now.”"

Given the size of Rodgers contract, along with the implications of any decision that is made, it’s going to affect the Green Bay Packers salary cap this year and in future years, thus creating a trickle-down effect to not only Adams but any other potential deals Green Bay has in mind, such as an extension for Za’Darius Smith.

If Rodgers were to be traded — which, for the record, I don’t believe he will be — that would free up $22.85 million worth of cap space in 2021 and $25.5 million in 2022 and 2023, according to Over the Cap.

On the other hand, if the two sides agree to an extension, which reportedly is an offer that the Packers have made, then Green Bay could lower Rodgers’ $37.2 million cap hit in 2021 by converting a portion of his base salary to a signing bonus and pushing those cap charges to future years. However, by infusing more money into his current deal, those cap hits have to come due at some point, which means his already large cap hits in the coming years will increase.

Or, who knows, maybe nothing happens, and Rodgers’ contract stays as is with the $37.2 million cap hit in 2021 that I already mentioned, along with cap hits of $38.85 million in 2022 and $28.35 million in 2023.

Of course, then there is another can of worms that gets opened if Rodgers retires or just chooses not to show up at any point—but I don’t see that happening either.

Understandably so, any one of these decisions will affect how the Green Bay Packers go about structuring Adams’ new deal.

Now, I will add that regardless of what happens with Rodgers, it would appear that the Packers have every intention of extending Adams, but again, it’s how the contract is put together and when the cap hits will fall that needs to be ironed out—not whether or not they want to commit to the All-Pro wide receiver.

Looking ahead to next offseason, the Green Bay Packers are projected to be $34.5 million over the salary cap at the moment. Of course, there are ways to create cap space, but with their eight largest cap hits in 2022 accounting for $160 million, it’s going to take some more financial maneuvering by Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball to fit Adams’ massive deal on the books, which could end up north of $27 million per year.

Although this topic hasn’t been discussed much, it’s easy to see why this rift between the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers is holding things up for Davante Adams. Piecing together a contract of this magnitude is already a complicated matter with the salary cap, but then add the unknown around the Rodgers’ saga to the mix and things become even more challenging.

The good news is that based on Fowler’s report, it does sound like an extension will take place; it just might take a little more time while we continue to wait things out.

Quote from Jeremy Fowler via Bleacher Report (link above)