Green Bay Packers: Top 5 most overpaid players
4. Richard Rodgers
2017 Base Salary: $1,787,000.00 Cap Hit: $1,923,504.00
Does Rodgers look like the type of player that should be pulling in nearly $2-million? Don’t answer. That’s what’s called a rhetorical question.
Over the past two seasons, the plodding tight end has fallen short of averaging 10.0 yards per reception. The likes of Darren Fells, Garrett Celek and Dion Sims all outpaced Rodgers in that department last season, as No. 89 finished 71st among his peers.
The Pac-12 product’s numbers were down across the board, including his catch rate (63.8 percent). But more importantly, Rodgers couldn’t take advantage of Jared Cook’s two-month absence by quietly fading into the background instead of turning his opportunities into big plays.
He’s just one of those players that doesn’t do anything extraordinarily well. He’s never had the speed to be anything more than a catch-and-fall target in the passing game, but the fourth-year pro has also never be a dominant blocker that can consistently take on pass rushers one-on-one.
And with Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks now occupying the top two spots at tight end, one has to wonder if the Packers would be better served going with a more cost-effective option behind their offseason acquisitions.