Aaron Rodgers could opt-out of the 2021 season with zero obligations to the Green Bay Packers for not playing. However, it looks like Rodgers is going to play the wait-and-see game before making any big decisions. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Rodgers isn’t likely to opt-out before the Friday, July 2 deadline. Florio said Rodgers “won’t be ready to give up on playing this year” by the end of this week.
Rodgers has an $11.5 million signing bonus and $6.8 million roster bonus coming to him this upcoming season. Rodgers earned the roster bonus in March and will be paid weekly during the season. If Rodgers decides to sit out the entire year, he will miss out on a total of $20.3 million as that will includes daily fines for skipping training camp.
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Rodgers hasn’t been with the team all offseason, missing OTAs and the mandatory minicamp earlier this month. Training camp begins at the end of July, and there’s no word if he will attend or not. Rodgers reportedly told people in the Packers organization that he wasn’t returning to the team this fall as he’s disgruntled with the front office.
“It’s been one of those quiet offseasons you just dream about where you can just kind of go through your process on your own quietly and that’s all you can ask for as an older player in the league and someone who’s been around for a long time and just enjoy that time to yourself, to just relax, to not be bothered, to not have any obligations or anything going on,” Rodgers said in a virtual press conference for a charity golf event that also has Tom Brady. “I think that’s what this offseason’s been about. It’s been about really enjoying my time and spending it where I want to spend it and not feeling like I have to go anywhere and not having any responsibilities but still being an NFL player at the same time. It’s been great.”
Rodgers has been with the Packers since being drafted No. 24 overall in 2005. In his career, Rodgers has won the MVP award three times, selected to the Pro Bowl nine times and won a Super Bowl in 2010. In the last two seasons, Rodgers has led the Packers to 26 regular-season wins and two appearances in the NFC Championship Game.
