Green Bay Packers Finally Sign 3rd Round Pick Amari Rodgers

And the last domino has fallen. It was reported on Friday morning that the Green Bay Packers and third-round wide receiver Amari Rodgers have agreed to a rookie deal. Rodgers was the last member of the Packers’ 2021 draft class that had remained unsigned.

Although we are close to training camp, it’s not unusual for it to take a while for third-round draft picks and their teams to come to an agreement. In fact, there are still several third-round draft picks that remain unsigned.

Earlier this summer, Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated spoke with an NFL agent who explained what the hold up was:

"“In the third round, the CBA provides a maximum annual contract value for each player. For instance, in the case of Rodgers, those numbers are $660,000 (the league minimum, plus a $923,564 signing bonus) for Year 1, $882,723 in Year 2, $1,105,446 in Year 3 and $1,328,169 in Year 4. The league-minimum base salaries are the aforementioned $660,000 in Year 1, $825,000 in Year 2, $940,000 in Year 3 and $1.055 million in Year 4.Added together, that “additional compensation” of $496,338 – the difference between the max value of $4,899,902 and the bonus-plus-minimum total of $4,403,564 – is where there’s negotiation between the Packers’ Russ Ball and Rodgers’ agent, Chafie Fields.”"

An added wrinkle or hurdle in all of this that Bill also mentions is that the Houston Texans gave third-round pick Nico Collins 100 percent of the “additional compensation,” something that hasn’t been done in the past. So naturally, Rodgers, along with every other third-round pick, likely wanted the same treatment, which probably led to more negotiations.

At this time, we don’t know the exact dollar amount that Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have agreed to.

As good as this Packers offense was in 2020, ranking first in both points per game and DVOA, the addition of Rodgers could make them even more potent as he provides an important skill-set that was missing.

Rodgers gives Green Bay a true slot presence with major YAC ability, as well as someone who fits that gadget role. He can line up all over the formation, including out of the backfield, and his ability as a motion man, as well as on jet sweeps and screens, will help Matt LaFleur achieve that “illusion of complexity” that he’s often talking about—which to boil down means keeping defenses guessing and off-balance.

During Rodgers’ final year at Clemson, he posted 1,020 receiving yards, with 613 coming after the catch — the second-most in college football — while his 8.0 YAC average ranked fourth, and his 17 forced missed tackles was seventh-best. He also found the end zone seven times and caught 78 percent of his targets, according to PFF ($$).