PFF lays out what it may take for Broncos to land Rodgers
Dec 22, 2021, 7:00 AM | Updated: 7:04 am
It’s almost a given that any scenario of Aaron Rodgers landing in Denver will cost the Broncos a pretty penny, and this week Pro Football Focus put a figure on the reigning MVP’s services.
According to the analytics site, a realistic trade scenario that puts Rodgers in orange and blue could cost the Broncos two-first round picks along with a second and third rounder … and potentially a player or two.
In this scenario, Denver would send Green Bay a 2022 and 2023 first-round pick, along with a 2022 second and third rounder, leaving the Packers with $26.85 million in dead money and the Broncos inheriting Rodgers’ one-year, $26.97 million contract.
“… The Packers have made it abundantly clear they are willing to let Rodgers retire before they accept a bad trade offer. So, any interested team will still need to pay full price to acquire his services, especially considering the 2020 NFL MVP has a chance to repeat with a strong final month of the season,” writes PFF salary cap analyst Brad Spielberger.
Not to mention, at age 39, Rodgers could be looking to sign an extension that will make him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL on a per-year basis.
But the steep price might be warranted for a Broncos squad that features a handful of potent offensive skill players — including Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, Jerry Jeudy, Noah Fant and Albert Okwuegbunam — and an offensive line that ranks in PFF’s top-10 so far in 2021.
“We hear that an NFL roster is ‘a quarterback away’ a lot, and never has that been more true than it is with this Denver Broncos team,” Spielberger writes.
However, Green Bay may also seek to acquire one of these players, according to PFF, or potentially a pass rusher like Bradley Chubb or Dre’Mont Jones.
Broncos general manager George Paton, however, has set up the team to have the draft capital to pull in the likes of Rodgers, having accumulated five picks in the top 90 for this upcoming draft.
