Yoop wrote: ↑21 May 2022 10:36
it also confirms the thought that if ya can do it, ya do it the Packer way, draft and develop rookie QB's for at least 3 years behind a proven starter, when that QB starts he should be ready to give you a couple very good cheap seasons, and his 2nd contract wont break the bank.
Top Ten all-time in how vigorously I agree with you, yoop.
Also:
Yoop wrote: ↑21 May 2022 10:30
We hate that Rodgers demands top dollar, at least I think we all do, problem is minus Rodgers, and this team wouldn't have won even half the games we have.
That's exactly right. The solution to this problem is not to eschew elite QB play when you have it. But to attempt to massage an ego and manage the relationship in a way such that the player feels the respect and value without financial affirmation. For guys like Rodgers, the marginal value of an additional $5-10 million will have no impact on his life or legacy. The generational wealth has already been built. But if you, say,
offer a top-dollar deal while presenting the empirical evidence that QB pay is a primary deterrent to Super Bowl rings and let him choose between the top-dollar offer or the cap savings with a say in the plan for how to use the money--
IF the team/player relationship is in a good, healthy place, then you might get somewhere.
With Rodgers and the team, the dynamic broke down long ago. It was clear from his airing of grievances presser that issues had been bubbling up even before Gutey arrived, not to mention how they strained after his arrival. At that point, Rodgers was going to take the most he could, like he always has. Even offering an alternative argument would have only served to make matters worse.
For a HoF QB, I see the ideal progression like this: rookie contract cheap... develop the player and ensure they're ready before they take the field. Second contract is mid-market because the QB is very good but not yet proven elite: this is a key window. Third contract, secure generational wealth for yourself. Get the bag. You're a HoFer. Any years left on your career after the 3rd contract? Take a reasonable below-market rates and try to secure a legacy with a late-career string of lombardis, assuming you haven't already amassed them throughout
We got the Rodgers second-contract window. It gave us only one championship and a couple near misses. Then we gave him the generational wealth third contract. The extension after that, and then this latest extension--those were, to me, missed opportunities. Those were times when, had TT retired a year earlier or MM been replaced a year earlier... had Jordy never been cut... had Rodgers felt like the old and new front office gave him the deference and respect he deserved, we could have perhaps convinced him to go the lombardi-chasing contract route. That's not to say it's solely the front office's fault for mishandling Rodgers. It's to say that Rodgers is an arrogant, ego-driven, chip-on-his-shoulder jerk about a lot of things; and that made the front office's job of managing the relationship a lot harder and they didn't. Both sides had a role to play.
At the end of the day, it comes down to player choice, and most players chase the cash and not the ring. And in our society, we value that thinking well enough that few hold it against them. But that doesn't make it untrue that taking less and playing for rings is a great way to get them.