Mark Tauscher: Aaron Rodgers’ record deal doesn’t guarantee he’ll be with Packers beyond four years

The immediate assumption is that Aaron Rodgers is going to finish his NFL career in a Green Bay Packers uniform.

It’s an understandable perspective, given the record four-year, $134-million contract extension the quarterback signed with them Wednesday.

‘Who knows what the next four years are going to look like?’

However, former offensive tackle Mark Tauscher, who was Rodgers’ teammate for the last six of his 11 seasons with the Packers (2000-2010), has seen this movie before. He was a rookie with the Packers when Rodgers’ predecessor, Brett Favre, signed a long-term deal that presumably would keep him in Green Bay forever. Then he watched him play for two other teams before retiring.

“Aaron wants to play until he’s 45; this four years puts him at 39,” Tauscher told Brian Custer and Brady Quinn on the SiriusXM Blitz. “Who knows what the next four years are going to look like? I remember when I came in in 2000 and Brett Favre signed a 10-year, $100-million contract and everybody said the same thing. I think everybody hopes that’s the case. I think when I got into Green Bay everybody assumed, ‘Oh, nothing will ever happen to Brett, three-time (NFL) MVP, Super Bowl winner.’ And things happen quick in the NFL.

‘Four years in the NFL is like 20 years’

“If it’s definitely the next four years and I think if Aaron keeps playing at this high level, he’ll get another contract. You never know that. I think that’s initially the hope, that he’s able to spend his entire career in Green Bay. But to think that just because he signed this four-year deal for somebody that’s as driven as Aaron is and wants to play a long time, four years in the NFL is like 20 years. You just never know what’s going to happen.”

For now, though, Tauscher sees an agreement that benefits both sides.

‘It’s obviously a peace of mind’

“I think it’s great for the Packers,” he said. “They know what they’re going to have to pay him the next four years. They can start going about doing any other business that they want because this is such a monster expense.

“But for him it’s obviously a peace of mind and I think anyone that has gone through negotiations and tried to get whatever they could, you always feel better about it when it’s done because as much as guys will say they don’t talk about it or they don’t think about it, it’s always on your mind because this is life-changing money. And for him, he’s now the highest-paid guy again. He’s set the bar another notch for the next quarterback to go over and being the best player in football, he definitely deserves it.”