Aaron Rodgers to reportedly become highest-paid player in NFL history with Packers extension

Aaron Rodgers isn't ready to pack it in just yet.

Rodgers is set to return to the Green Bay Packers after agreeing to the terms of a new four-year, $200 million contract extension, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday.

The news ended weeks of speculation about Rodgers' future, including speculation that he could retire. Rodgers fueled those rumors with an Instagram post last month in which he spontaneously thanked a variety of people, which some thought read like a retirement announcement. "To my teammates, past and current, you are the icing on the beautiful cake we call our job; football," he wrote.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Last week, NFL Network reported that Rodgers planned to play in 2022 but was "torn" on whether to do so with the Packers; the report said another option would be the Denver Broncos. But Rodgers is now set to return to the Packers, and Rapoport noted the deal "makes him the highest paid player in NFL history."

This comes after Rodgers drew controversy last year after revealing he was unvaccinated against COVID-19, even though in a prior interview, when he was asked if he was vaccinated, he replied, "Yeah, I'm immunized." Rodgers later said he took "full responsibility" if anyone "felt misled by those comments." He has defended his decision not to get vaccinated and complained that the "woke mob" was trying to "cancel" him.

In an interview on The Pat McAfee Show last month, Rodgers said he regretted how this controversy affected his loved ones.

"I didn't realize the kind of shrapnel that was being flaked off of what I felt like were the bullets coming at me, because I was too locked in on me and defending myself and trying to get a message out," he said. "I never wanted to be divisive in this whole thing. I really didn't."