Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) looks to pass the ball against the Chicago Bears during the first half on September 28, 2017 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI |
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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers doubled down on his intention of remaining with the Green Bay Packers well beyond his 40th birthday.
"It's sustained greatness I think is what drives me," the 34-year-old Rodgers said at the Wisconsin High School Sports Awards, via PackersNews.com. "It's to be the best and to be able to choose when I'm done playing. I think as you've seen here recently with Jordy [Nelson] but even you go back a few years to whether it's Julius Peppers or A.J. Hawk or John Kuhn or Brett Favre, the fairy tale ending of starting a career and ending it with the same organization rarely happens.
"So that's kind of my goal, is to be able to be indispensable to this organization into my 40s to where you've got to keep me around."
The Packers intend to keep Rodgers around, with general manager Brian Gutekunst recently going on record as saying that the quarterback will have a new contract in the near future.
Green Bay was thought to be waiting for the Atlanta Falcons to present quarterback Matt Ryan with a contract extension prior to crunching the numbers for Rodgers. Ryan was offered -- and accepted -- a five-year, $150 million deal with $100 million guaranteed earlier this month.
Rodgers has two years left on the original five-year, $110 million extension he signed in 2013. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and six-time Pro Bowl selection is scheduled to make $20.9 million in 2018 and $21.1 million in 2019.
He sustained a broken right collarbone that derailed the majority of his season in 2017. Rodgers was able to return for one game following an eight-week absence before the team placed him on injured reserve after it was eliminated from playoff contention.
Rodgers passed for 1,675 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions over seven games this past season, his 13th in the NFL.
He ranks second all-time in franchise history in passing yards (38,502) and touchdowns thrown (313), trailing only the legendary Brett Favre in both categories (61,655 and 442, respectively).
