Rodgers must be the QB to push for unique, cap-adjusted deal

Joe Flacco. Andrew Luck. Alex Smith. Derek Carr. Matthew Stafford. Jimmy Garoppolo. Kirk Cousins. Matt Ryan.

What do these nine quarterbacks have in common? They all earn more annually than arguably the NFL's best quarterback, and perhaps its best player, in Aaron Rodgers, who takes home an average of $8 million per year less than the league's newest highest-paid player, Ryan.

Rodgers is a prime example of how quickly NFL deals become outdated. Contracts vastly favor teams over players, who soon realize all the zeroes and talk of guaranteed money - the latter of which, aside from Cousins' case, never covers 100 percent of the deal despite football's violent nature - are a mirage intended to make players feel they're being rewarded appropriately.

Teams argue that these five- or six-year contracts are worth it because they give the player greater security, but for a superstar like Rodgers, who saw Garoppolo's annual salary exceed his after only playing seven career games, that benefit doesn't seem to add up.

Waiting on a deal

The Packers superstar is expected to ink a record-breaking deal before the start of the 2018 campaign, and it was assumed that Ryan signing one of his own at the start of May would be the push Green Bay and Rodgers needed to get over the finish line.

Alas, nearly a month since the Atlanta Falcons locked down their franchise player, the Packers don't appear to be any closer to doing the same with theirs despite new general manager Brian Gutekunst saying he anticipates both sides will "come to an agreement soon" on the day of Ryan's extension.

Related: Falcons GM says Rodgers told him to finish Ryan deal 'so I can get on with my life'

The holdup is partly because of the nine names mentioned previously. Mike Garafolo reported Friday on NFL Network that Rodgers apparently wants an opt-out clause in his contract that would allow him to renegotiate the deal down the line and avoid a repeat of his current situation.

Furthermore, Rodgers is apparently pushing for a contract unlike any we've seen in the NFL before, added Garafolo.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Outside of the opt-out clause, it's unclear what exactly would make Rodgers' deal one of a kind. Cousins already became the first player to earn a fully guaranteed contract, so where is there for the two-time NFL MVP to go?

Breaking the contract mold

Well, if Rodgers intends to try to slow the NFL contract wheel with such a clause, we have a suggestion: he should go all-in and break said wheel - Khaleesi-style - by using his standing as arguably the only top quarterback in his prime to fight for a deal that isn't measured in dollar signs, but by a set percentage of each season's cap.

The NFL's salary cap was set at $123 million when Rodgers signed his then-record five-year, $22-million-per-season extension in 2013, therefore the quarterback's money accounted for roughly 17.9 percent of it.

The cap has since risen a staggering 45 percent to $177.2 million - or nine percent per year. Rodgers' $22 million has now dropped to roughly 12.4 percent of the cap, so you can understand why he's reluctant to sign another long-term deal that so heavily favors the team.

Let's work under four assumptions:

1. The salary cap continues to rise at roughly 9 percent annually.
2. The 34-year-old Rodgers wants to squeeze in one more massive deal before his NFL days are over.
3. The Packers would push to maintain the approximate 18 percent of the cap established in Rodgers' previous deal.
4. This deal would mean Rodgers' current one would be torn up.

So, here's how a new four-year cap-connected contract would look:

Year	Salary cap	Rodgers' salary
2018	$177.2M	$31.9M
2019	$193.1M*	$34.8M
2020	$210.5M*	$37.9M
2021	$229.4M*	$41.3M

*projected

Of course, Rodgers has two years remaining on his contract and the Packers - beyond not enraging their most important player - likely have little motivation to agree to such a player-friendly deal.

Cousins needed the power of back-to-back franchise tags and the open free-agent market to help set his milestone.

Still, NFL players have gotten the short end of the stick in contract negotiations for far too long. Someone needs to force the league to change its thinking, and Rodgers is likely the last hope until the likes of Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson are ready for their own mammoth deals.

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