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Packers extend QB Aaron Rodgers

NFL, Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have agreed on a five-year, $110 million contract extension, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Rodgers is guaranteed an NFL-record $62.5 million, sources told Schefter, which includes the three-year cash total and guarantee in the contract.

The deal will also set the highest salary per season in NFL history, eclipsing the $120.6 million over six years the Baltimore Ravens gave quarterback Joe Flacco in March.

Rodgers will make $40 million in 2013, some of which is bonus money, a league source told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. The deal will add five years on top of the two years Rodgers has remaining on his contract and will keep him in Green Bay through the 2019 season, a source told Schefter.

Rodgers will make $62.5 million from 2013 to 2015 and $110 million in new money over the course of the extension, a source told ESPN.

Rodgers' salary-cap number never exceeds $21 million for the duration of the deal, a source told Mortensen.

"Big thanks to the Organization, our coaching staff, my teammates, and packer nation for the last 8 years! Excited about 7 more!" Rodgers tweeted Friday.

The Packers announced Friday that they had signed the quarterback to a contract extension, although the team didn't release details of the deal.

"An exciting day for our football program," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in a statement. "Aaron is an excellent illustration of a Green Bay Packer. It is truly a blessing to witness his continued accomplishments, both on and off the field."

Locking up Rodgers was a priority for the Packers, who also reached a long-term extension with linebacker Clay Matthews this month. The Packers are 53-27 in Rodgers' five years as a starter, and he led them to the Super Bowl title following the 2010 season.

"Congratulations 2 my man @AaronRodgers12. Frankly, he deserves more, but thank you 4 saving some 4 the rest. Every dinner on u sir! Let's Go," Packers tight end Jermichael Finley tweeted.

President Mark Murphy said leaving enough space under the salary cap to consistently field a competitive team around Rodgers for the life of his deal was "crucial." He also acknowledged that the Packers not only gave Rodgers a market-rate contract but set a new market in the process.

"But he's a pretty good quarterback, too," Murphy said, laughing.

Rodgers, the longest-tenured Packers player and the only one still on the roster from that 4-12 team in 2005, said he's confident the front office will continue to be able to build a winner around him.

"I like where we're at. Obviously, there were some discussions about not doing a lot in free agency," Rodgers said. "Like I said, this seems to be the Packer way where you draft a guy in your system and you pay them."

Rodgers has thrown for 21,661 yards and 171 touchdowns, and has had a quarterback rating of 101.2 or better in all but one season as a starter. His quarterback rating of 122.5 in 2011 is an NFL record.

"Aaron is a true professional and a special player," general manger Ted Thompson said in a statement. "He works hard, is humble and is focused on his actions, on and off the field. He is an excellent teammate and pushes himself and others to be the very best. We are happy to reach an agreement to extend his career with the Packers."

The announcement of the extension comes eight years after Rodgers was snubbed by almost every other team in the NFL draft.

The former standout at Cal was expected to be taken early in the first round in 2005, but he soon found himself alone in the green room. Rodgers acknowledged that prove-the-doubters-wrong attitude he has used to his benefit throughout his career since that day he was ignored by so many in the draft.

"I have a good memory, and I'm driven to be the best," Rodgers said. "Obviously, there's a couple less critics out there now, but I still put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve the goals I set for myself here and enjoy trying to meet the challenge that those goals bring and also opposing teams bring."

It wasn't the last rough spot Rodgers would encounter.

He arrived in Green Bay as a backup to Brett Favre, who wasn't thrilled that the team had found an heir apparent. Favre kept fans and the franchise on their toes every offseason, flirting with the idea of retiring but always coming back. When the tension finally snapped in 2008 -- Favre retired, changed his mind and asked for his job back -- Rodgers found himself in the middle of the most bitter divorce in Wisconsin history.

Favre was traded to the New York Jets during training camp, but many fans remained loyal to him. They took their anger at the organization out on Rodgers, even booing him at the team's Family Night scrimmage. Rodgers kept his composure, never firing back at fans or even criticizing Favre.

Rodgers played well in his first year as a starter. Despite a 6-10 record, he showed flashes of why Thompson had such faith in him, and fans began coming around. Any lingering animosity disappeared after he led the Packers to the playoffs following the 2009 season, and he's now one of the most beloved figures in Wisconsin sports history. The Wisconsin Legislature designated Dec. 12, 2012, as Aaron Rodgers Day, and students and workers throughout the state were encouraged to celebrate by wearing his jersey.

When he was shown on the video board at the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff game against the Miami Heat on Thursday, he got one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Rodgers holds four of Green Bay's top five single-season marks for passer rating (2009-12) and two of the top three for passing TDs (2011-12). He also has three of the top four records for completion percentage (2010-12) and two of the top three for passing yards (2009, 2011).

Rodgers will be 36 when the deal ends. He said he thinks he has at least eight years left in his legs and his body, when asked whether he wondered if this would be his last contract.

"A lot of times you don't see a deal all the way through if you're playing well. It's just the nature of some of these contracts. That's a long way off. In order to even get to that conversation, it's going to take many years in a row at a consistently high level of play for me, which I expect to do," Rodgers said. "And I'm going to get myself in the best shape mentally and physically to do that, and hopefully we can have that conversation in seven years where I can still play and maybe we can keep this thing going."

Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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