Article:It's A Beautiful Day in Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood

Keeping his eyes firmly on the future, Green Bay Packers General Manager Ted Thompson (TT) has inked starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a long term contract extension. Entering the negotiations approximately $20 million under the salary cap, TT opened the coffers for his quarterback. Sources indicate that the contract is worth $65 million over 6 years ($20 million guaranteed). Rodger is now signed through the 2014 season. The contract offers a greater per year salary than other recent quarterback contracts around the NFL, but has a lower guarantee.

"It's certainly a market deal compared to other franchise quarterbacks," said David Dunn, Rodgers' agent for the last few months. "The Packers came at us aggressively for this to be a deal that is commensurate with his peers in the league. Because Aaron likes it so much there, it became an easy decision for him."

"As we talked about in the past, we try to be proactive in our discussions with our current players and we felt like this was an appropriate time to try to come to an agreement with Aaron," said Thompson. "We feel like this is good for the organization and the players, and we will continue this approach as we move forward."

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In 2005, Rodgers became the first ever draft pick for then rookie Packer GM Ted Thompson. Rodgers has answered the call this season by passing at a 67% completion clip for 1668 yards with 12 TDs against 4 interceptions through 7 games of the 2008 season, his first as the full-time starter. His long term health offers some area of trepidition, but when healthy he is the definition of a game manager. He efficiently runs the game plan with a minimum of errors.

In addtion to his capabilities as a starting quarterback, Rodgers is an interesting individual who is well liked by his teammates. The message is clear. The Packers are his team now.