Despite longtime Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers announcing his intention to play for the Jets in 2023, the two sides “were not close to completing a deal” as of Wednesday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday.
Green Bay and New York are reportedly haggling over compensation for Rodgers, who has been with the team since he was drafted in 2005. Despite the Packers looking to—as Rodgers put it—“move on” from him, the team would obviously still like adequate compensation for the four-time MVP.
“All I can tell you is that Green Bay believes its right, the Jets believe they’re right and now we wait to see how the two sides can find a way to somehow meet in the middle and come up with a simple solution,” Schefter said. “That’s where the two sides are right now, far apart.”
How much compensation the Packers feel they are owed—or what Rodgers is worth—is the crux of the impasse. According to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, the Packers want a first-round pick in a base deal for Rodgers, including “protection in 2025” should he play in ’24. That could manifest in multiple ways in a trade, especially considering how recent acquisitions of other quarterbacks have shaped the market.
Schefter noted Broncos QB Russell Wilson’s trade from the Seahawks, where Seattle received three players, two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a fifth-round pick for the quarterback and a fourth-round pick. The Lions obtained Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick and first-round picks in ’22 and ’23 for dealing Matthew Stafford to the Rams. Though the Packers aren’t asking for that type of compensation, per Schefter, their front office has had those discussions.
“The Green Bay Packers aren’t going to be in a rush to get something done until they feel like they get sufficient compensation for the player who believes that he is the greatest player in Packers franchise history,” Schefter said. “They believe there is a premium to be paid for that.”
Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday that the two sides were close to agreeing on compensation. Per Schefter, the Jets may look to something more in line with the 2008 trade made between the two franchises for Brett Favre: a third-round conditional draft pick.
“The Jets would think that’s closer to the value that should be paid for a 39-year-old quarterback who is on a year-to-year basis, who oh by the way also has $110 million in guaranteed money due to him over the next two years,” Schefter said. “So if they are taking on that money and they would restructure the contract, then that should lower the compensation.”
