The NFL quickly gave us some interesting storylines before training camp even started this season. Yes, I’m looking at you, Aaron Rodgers.
While that was going on, other stories were brewing.
Here are three of the major headlines of the 2024 NFL season.
Aaron Rodgers in New York
Aaron Rodgers spent the first 18 seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl ring and four MVPs. After the Packers drafted quarterback Jordan Love in 2020 with its first-round pick, a new era was born and we knew Rodgers’ days were numbered.
There wasn’t a guarantee Rodgers would continue playing, either. During an interview in January 2023 on The Pat McAfee Show, he wasn’t opening up about whether he would continue playing or retire.
“I think you always have a feeling where you’re leaning but there’s a lot of things that come into play”@AaronRodgers chats about his future #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/J7FgWsAjE4
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 17, 2023
He believed he could still play. So he did.
When Rodgers was ultimately traded to the New York Jets, owner Woody Johnson did everything he could to make sure his new quarterback was taken care of.
Fast forward to now, and after the firings of head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, the Jets find themselves in the middle of a dysfunctional organization and a 4-12 record. The Jets will miss the postseason for the 14th straight season.
If that doesn’t explain it enough… A report surfaced from The Athletic stating Johnson didn’t make a trade with the Denver Broncos because of a player’s Madden NFL rating.
Chiefs Three-Peat
With the Kansas City Chiefs clinching the AFC’s No. 1 seed on Christmas Day, they’ll get a first-round bye. The 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers gave the Chiefs a 15-1 record on the season.
DraftKings Sportsbook currently has the Chiefs as Super Bowl LIX favorites with +350 odds.
“It’s just going to be nice getting guys healthy,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said after the Chiefs’ win over the Steelers. “I think this was the earliest [regular-season] bye I’ve ever had just in general. To kind of have this grind of whatever it is — I think we had our bye Week 6 — so it’s like almost 10 weeks of just football and grinding and then this short schedule at the very end of the year.”
Former NFL defensive tackle Trevor Pryce said football isn’t built for a three-peat when specifically asked about the Chiefs and their journey toward three consecutive Super Bowl wins.
“If you have two of those long, drawn-out seasons in a row,” he told ESPN. “Some of the players don’t recover real well. If they play in a third [straight] Super Bowl, they have basically played four seasons in three seasons. And the human body — the football body — cannot handle that.”
Pryce was on the Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos in 1997 and 1998, but that wasn’t these Chiefs.
Quarterback Stack
We haven’t seen quarterback contracts like these.
When Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million extension in Week 1, it became a pattern of monstrous contracts given out to quarterbacks. Would it continue?
After big money was given to quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Jordan Love in recent years, it would appear that’s true.
Mahomes is in the midst of his 10-year, $450 million deal that he signed in 2020. Tua Tagovailoa inked a four-year, $212.4 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. Justin Herbert’s five-year, $262.5 million contract earns him $52.5 million per year.
The list is endless. H
However, one of the best contracts in the league has to be with the San Francisco 49ers. Brock Purdy is earning under $1 million after being selected with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. The 49ers appear to be committed to him, but the money isn’t following just yet.
His teammate, tight end George Kittle has some thoughts:
“And the nice thing about contracts is, when you play at a high level, you can compare yourself to other people in the league. And when other guys are getting paid $50-60 million, and you know you’re a better quarterback than they are, it’s hard not to get that same amount of money.”
