Playing for one team your entire career is a very rare accomplishment in the NFL. Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre have all been deemed expendable after a while, which is why Aaron Rodgers isn’t deluding himself into thinking the same can’t happen to him.
Doubling down on comments he’s made recently about wanting to play a long time, Rodgers said he wants to play as long as Tom Brady, per the Associated Press. However, he realizes that might mean he has to leave Green Bay at some point to continue his career.
“I think you have to be humble enough to realize if it could happen to Brett, it can happen to you,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers is arguably the best pure quarterback in the NFL today, no offense intended to Brady. He still has two years left on his current deal in Green Bay and is slated to make an average of $20 million per year, which is by today’s standards a cheap rate.
The Packers currently have no better options — there’s not another Rodgers behind Rodgers like there was when Favre was let go. So it stands to reason that the franchise needs to get on the stick and make an extension happen, and soon.
At the age of 34, Rodgers still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and if he does play until he’s 40 that means he’ll likely be around for another couple of contracts. Whether those contracts will be with Green Bay remains to be seen.