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WHEN AARON RODGERS tore his Achilles after four snaps last season, NFL agents and club employees went straight to their laptops to confirm something they suspected: There was no insurance addendum in Rodgers’ contract.
The Jets renegotiated Rodgers’ contract after trading for him and didn’t buy an insurance policy to secure a portion of the $37 million in guaranteed money owed to the quarterback in 2023. Green Bay had a policy on Rodgers, but the Jets had no relationship with the broker who sold the Packers the policy. With the snap of Rodgers’ left Achilles tendon, that $37 million for a player who wouldn’t play could never be recovered.
“The Aaron Rodgers situation is a tragedy that should be understood,” said Richard Buffum, former manager of football administration for the 49ers and current director of salary cap and contracts for the agency Excel Sports Management.
“When you trade for a 40-year-old quarterback, and you already have the policy in there, that’s an indefensible decision,” a former NFL club executive said. “Penny-wise, dollar foolish.”
Last October, Sportico first reported that the Jets declined to purchase insurance on Rodgers’ contract to protect the team if he missed games for injury or illness. The Jets missed out on recouping up to $22 million in insurance proceeds by not purchasing one of several policies ranging in price from $1 million to $4 million, per the report.
Not mentioned was the biggest loss the Jets suffered by forgoing insurance, the very reason that Buffum calls this a tragedy: the corresponding salary cap relief.
The CBA labels insurance proceeds as a “refund from the player,” which qualifies the amount as a cap credit for the club for the following season. In the simplest terms, if a player who eats up a significant portion of a club’s salary cap misses significant time with injury or illness, a club doesn’t have to take it as a total loss, but can recover space…
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