The Green Bay Packers' trade of Aaron Rodgers is a bittersweet moment for the franchise. Losing a four-time NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion quarterback hurts, but Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst acknowledged one of the sweet parts of the trade.
Gutekunst acknowledged the $40.3 million hit that Rodgers' deal will eat out of the Packers' cap space in 2023, though he mentioned the savings that will give the team down the road, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
“It will certainly help us next year. Excited to move past this part and have some assets for next year.”
The bill is due now for the Packers when it comes to Aaron Rodgers- and it's a $40.3 million tab that Gutekunst acknowledged has made things “a little tight” before the NFL Draft.
But it's worth it for the cap space savings down the road.
Before the Rodgers trade went down, the Packers and the star QB restructured his contract by converting a $58.3 million option bonus into a 2024 base salary.
The move has Rodgers set to earn just over $1 million in 2023, though the cap hit balloons to $107.55 million in 2024.
The Jets will surely restructure the contract, but Gutekunst's point is clear.
With Rodgers and his monster contract out of the picture, the Packers will have added cap space flexibility to build the best possible team around Jordan Love moving forward.
Love, a former first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, carries a measly $2.3 million base salary for 2023, but could stand to earn as much as $20.272 million should the Packers pick up his fifth-year option before May 1.
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