Clayton: No one, including Aaron Rodgers, opts out of 2021 NFL season

It’s now official. Aaron Rodgers did not opt out for the 2021 season.

In fact, no player opted out. Friday was the opt out deadline, but everyone had to wait until Tuesday to see who was in and who was out. Because of the July 4 holiday, the league didn’t put out a waiver wire.

But an hour before Rodgers was set to participate in The Match against Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson, the news was made official. That does keep him in play if he holds out from the Packers and Green Bay decides to give up the battle and trade him.

The opt out option wasn’t really known until about two weeks ago. Opting out would have ended his season, but it would allow him to preserve more than $34 million. In an opt out, the contract moves to 2022. Rodgers has already lost a $500,000 workout bonus and $93,000 for missing the minicamp. If Rodgers, who doesn’t want to be a Packer anymore, holds out the entire season, the team could ask him to repay the proration of his signing bonus this year and a $6.8 million roster bonus.

Clearly, the Broncos would be his preference in a trade. His fiancé lives in Boulder. He’d have a great pass-catching group. Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos as the sixth best pass-catching group in the league. The backfield is deep and talented. PFF says the Broncos have the 10th most talented roster in the league.

Now it’s up to Rodgers to see how long he opts out of Packers training camp and the start of the regular season.