NFL Trade Rumors: Aaron Rodgers' $58M Contract 'A Roadblock'; Teams Eye Packers' Help

The NFL world is still waiting for the Aaron Rodgers domino to fall, and his contract is reportedly something of a "roadblock" at this time.

"Here's the latest, I've had a bunch of calls this morning," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on Monday's episode of Get Up. "The New York Jets are still in it with Aaron Rodgers, but I've talked to multiple teams in the quarterback market right now who say that Aaron Rodgers' $58 million guaranteed money is an issue.

"Teams are going to want to rework that or have Green Bay help facilitate, maybe eating some of that money. And so that is a roadblock right now. How willing is Green Bay to try to be flexible and make that money go away a little bit for a new team? If not, a team like the Jets could pivot to Derek Carr."

Rodgers' future is arguably the biggest question in an offseason full of quarterback uncertainty surrounding Lamar Jackson, Carr and multiple highly regarded prospects available in the draft.

The will-he-or-won't-he dance with the Green Bay Packers is nothing new, as there has been speculation he could retire or request a trade away from the only NFL team he has ever known going back multiple years.

Yet this time may be somewhat different, as ESPN's Jeff Darlington previously reported, "No longer does it feel like the Packers are simply going to kiss the ring of Aaron Rodgers and say, 'We need you back. We gotta have you back.'"

Green Bay selected Jordan Love as its possible quarterback of the future with a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, but he has yet to see consistent playing time with Rodgers still playing at a high level.

Perhaps the Packers finally want to see if Love can live up to expectations as the surefire No. 1 option. If so, they may be motivated to help the Jets or any other team interested in Rodgers with the financial side of things.

The Packers might also be slightly more comfortable moving on from the future Hall of Famer this offseason than they were in the past because of a slight drop-off in production.

Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs in 2020 and 2021 while throwing for 85 combined touchdowns and only nine interceptions. Last season, he threw for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and the Packers missed the playoffs. Throw in the fact that Rodgers is now 39 years old, and the Packers could be ready to move into the future after multiple offseasons of speculative drama surrounding the quarterback position.

It just might take some financial assistance from them to do so.