The details have emerged about Aaron Rodgers’ contract with the Steelers, including the milestones that the 41-year-old quarterback has to hit in order to reach his performance-based incentives.
Rodgers’ contract is worth $13.65 million for the one year, with $10 million guaranteed, but his deal could reach as high as $19.5 million with the incentives.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Rodgers would have to play 70 percent of the Steelers’ regular-season snaps in order to be eligible for any of his incentives.
The future Hall of Famer would receive an extra $500,000 if the Steelers qualified for the postseason, Breer said.
A wild-card round victory in which he played 50 percent of the game or his team earned a first-round bye would mean a $600,000 bump for Rodgers.
If Rodgers leads the Steelers to a divisional round win and he is on the field for at least half the snaps, he would earn $750,000 more.
The incentives hit the millions when it comes to leading the Steelers to victory later in the playoffs, with a win in the AFC championship game in which he plays half percent of the game would trigger a $1 million contract incentive.
A Super Bowl win would trigger a $1.5 million incentive.
Rodgers would receive $1.5 million if he won the AP MVP award.
Tuesday marked Rodgers’ first day on the field with the Steelers after he signed his new deal with the team over the weekend, ending a long offseason saga over where the QB would end up playing — if at all – in 2025.
Speaking with reporters after practice on Tuesday, he described the feeling as similar to “the first day of school.”
“I don’t know a lot of guys’ names,” Rodgers told reporters. “They don’t have names on the back of their jerseys yet. They don’t have names on the meeting rooms. I literally walk out of the locker room lost. I have to grab somebody and say, ‘Hey, where am I going?’
“But I’ll get the feel of it. I’m excited about making this home.”
