Aaron Rodgers Has 20.3 Million Reasons to Opt-Out of NFL Season

If Aaron Rodgers really doesn’t want to suit up and play for the Packers this season as it appears might be the case, it might not end up costing him as much money as originally thought.

In a memo that was sent out by the NFL earlier this week, the league informed players that, although they will not receive a $150,000 stipend as they did last season, they do have the right to voluntarily opt out of playing this season due to COVID-19 concerns. (High-risk players will receive a stipend of $350,000 if they sit out.)

NFL players have until 4 p.m. ET on Friday, July 2 to inform their team if they’re opting out, which means Rodgers has about one week to use COVID-19 as an excuse to not play the 2021 season for Green Bay.

As ProFootballTalk points out, it would be a smart financial move to opt-out of the season for Rodgers if he really doesn’t want to play for the Packers. While Rodgers wouldn’t get the $150,000 stipend for opting out, that is pretty small potatoes to the $11.5 million in unearned signing bonus money and $6.8 million roster bonus he’d be able to keep if he opts out as opposed to sitting out. He’d also hold onto the $2 million he’d be fined for skipping training camp if he sits out as opposed to opting out.

In all, opting out would allow Rodgers to hold onto about $20.3 million he’d lose if he simply doesn’t show up to training camp and sits the season.

“He can pull the plug on the 2021 season. It would be a permanent and irrevocable decision, but he can do it,” according to PFT. “The problem with opting out is that it requires a fairly quick decision, and the decision cannot be changed. But if Rodgers truly is thinking about staying away for all of 2021, there are 20.3 million reasons for making a final and binding decision in the next seven days.”

Opting out won’t solve Rodgers’s problems with the Packers and he’d still be under contract with the team if/when he returned to football, but it would save him some cash in the meantime. Will it happen? Probably not, but we’ll know for sure by next weekend.