Aaron Rodgers finally put pen to paper in Pittsburgh last week, signing a one-year deal for the lowest APY of his career since his rookie contract 20 years ago.
Rodgers’ pact with the Steelers has a base value of $13.65MM, comprised of a $3.65MM salary and a $10MM signing bonus that represents all of his guaranteed money, per OverTheCap. With incentives, he can reach $19.5MM, though he and the Steelers will have to reach some significant benchmarks to realize that maximum value.
The $5.85MM of incentives in Rodgers’ contract are all predicated on the 41-year-old quarterback playing at least 70% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, a mark he easily eclipsed last year in New York. However, he cannot earn any extra money based on playtime alone, as the incentives are largely dependent on Pittsburgh’s performance in 2025.
Rodgers will earn $500K if the Steelers qualify for the postseason. That’s his only incentive that is considered ‘Likely To Be Earned’ as Pittsburgh made the playoffs last year and Rodgers played 97% of the Jets’ offensive snaps. LTBE incentives have to be accounted for on the salary cap, so Rodgers’ 2025 cap hit will be $14.15MM.
Neither Rodgers nor the Steelers fulfilled the rest of his incentives in 2024, so they are all considered ‘Not Likely To Be Earned’ and therefore do not count against the 2025 cap. He can receive an additional $600K if the Steelers advance to the second round of the playoffs via either a wild-card win or a first-round bye, and another $750K is available for a win in the divisional round. Rodgers can then earn $1MM for advancing to the Super Bowl and $1.5MM for a Super Bowl victory, though all of his playoff incentives require him to play at least 50% of each game’s snaps.
Rodgers will also receive $1.5MM if he wins a fifth MVP award that would tie him for the all-time lead with Peyton Manning. Since no NFL player has won MVP without making the playoffs in more than 50 years, Rodgers would likely earn upwards of $2MM if he manages to take home the hardware.
The Steelers have been a playoff mainstay under Mike Tomlin, and Rodgers is likely their best starting quarterback in years. However, Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016, making it no certainty that Rodgers can reach the maximum value of his contract.