It’s been known since Saturday that a portion of QB Aaron Rodgers’ contract contained incentives that could make his one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers worth up to just shy of $20 million. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, as he’s been known to report, has those incentive details.
Per Breer, Rodgers’ deal contains the following.
– $500,000 if the Steelers make the playoffs.
– $600,000 for a wild-card round win with 50% play-time in the game OR a first-round bye.
– $750,000 for a divisional round win with 50% play-time in the game.
– $1 million for AFC title game win with 50% play-time in the game.
– $1.5 million for Super Bowl win with 50% play-time in the game.
– $1.5 million for winning the AP MVP award.
Rodgers must play 70-percent of the team’s regular season snaps to qualify for the above incentives.
Based on how the NFL structures incentives, almost all of these would be considered Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE), meaning they will be charged to the Steelers’ 2026 salary cap. Incentives are only considered Likely To Be Earned (LTBE) if the player achieved them the year before. Rodgers went 5-12 and missed the playoffs in 2024 with the New York Jets.
The only LTBE incentive will be the $500,000 for Pittsburgh making the playoffs, something they achieved in 2024. That will be charged to the team’s 2025 salary cap, and if it isn’t met, the Steelers will receive a credit for 2026.
Under Rodgers, Pittsburgh has a good chance to make the postseason. The Steelers have made the playoffs three out of the last four seasons. However, the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. Rodgers himself hasn’t been to the postseason since 2021, making the NFC Title Game before falling one win shy of another Super Bowl appearance.
Rodgers’ one-year pact contains $10 million guaranteed, and his 2025 cap charge should be $14.15 million. The total deal is worth up to $19.5 million, making it a cheap contract for a starting quarterback on a non-rookie deal.
While it’s rare for the Steelers to include incentives in contracts, the team has made exceptions for quarterbacks. In 2022, Mitch Trubisky’s contract contained several of them, mostly related to playing time. Though not an incentive, Pittsburgh’s trade with Chicago for QB Justin Fields last season included a playing time escalator that would’ve turned the Steelers’ sixth-round pick given to the Bears into a fourth-rounder had Fields played a majority of the offensive snaps. That condition was not met.
After golfing with them on Monday, Rodgers will conduct his first practice with the team tomorrow.
