Report: Aaron Rodgers’s Displeasure With Packers’ Roster Moves Complicating Contract Negotiations
Aaron Rodgers is upset with his lack of influence over the Packers’ personnel moves and the issue is impacting his ongoing contract extension negotiations, Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reports.
“While the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers isn’t in total disrepair, two league sources familiar with the quarterback’s mindset described him as both ‘frustrated’ and ‘emotional’ over a lack of communication from the front office prior to some significant decisions this offseason,” Robinson writes. “Specifically, the sources said Rodgers has lingering discontent being completely cut out of discussions that resulted in the departures of wideout Jordy Nelson and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. And it apparently is entering his thought process when it comes to his next contract extension.”
Robinson’s reporting jibes with what ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last month, that Rodgers might not do Green Bay “any favors” with his new contract given how the Nelson and Van Pelt situations were handled.
Rodgers has two years remaining on his current contract and cap hits of roughly $21 million in 2018 and 2019. An extension would allow the Packers to lower those numbers while actually paying Rodgers more. Robinson reported in March that Rodgers was “extremely close” to an agreement on an extension but was likely waiting to see what Kirk Cousins’s contract would be.
Nelson, who arrived in Green Bay the same year Rodgers became the Packers’ starting quarterback, was released in a cost-cutting move in March. Van Pelt had worked for the team since 2012 and was the quarterbacks coach since 2014. The Packers did not renew his contract when it expired after the 2017 season and he was subsequently hired as quarterbacks coach for the Bengals.
