Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers held a teleconference with media members Thursday, a day after signing a record-setting contract extension.
The signal-caller told reporters he wanted to return the trust to the Packers for the team's investment in him and he provided insight on the negotiations process.
Rodgers said the subject of non-traditional contracts came up surrounding contract structure with ties to future salary-cap implications, but ultimately both parties apparently settled on conventional norms.
"I don't think the NFL is ready for those type of contracts," Rodgers told reporters, via ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "There's language that need[s] to change for those to become more standard, but there just isn't the movement in that area on [the] franchise side to do contract[s] that allow players to have more of the leverage that NBA players have.
"Instead, they would rather go traditional routes with large signing bonuses and prorate that over five years in order to minimize cap hits. That's the desired approach and there wasn't a lot of wiggle room in that area."
The topic of a potential non-traditional contract for Rodgers raised its head throughout the summer.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo pointed out in July that Rodgers desired more control in a new deal.
Outside of guaranteed money and signing bonuses, players in the NFL are ultimately at the mercy of the team and it isn't uncommon for some players to never play out the length of the contract.
Still, the fact that Rodgers' representation and the Packers explored the possibility of a non-traditional contract will likely raise eyebrows.
But until NFL teams are willing to budge on allowing control to a player when it comes to individual deals, expect the contract process to continue on its traditional path.
