A.J. Hawk: Aaron Rodgers 'is going to get a billion dollars'

Weston Hodkiewicz, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

A.J. Hawk knows what everyone else does.

Whether that day is today, tomorrow or sometime before the 2013 season, the Green Bay Packers are going to make Aaron Rodgers the highest-paid player in NFL history. And when it happens, the Packers veteran linebacker believes the the MVP quarterback will be worth every penny.

Talks between the Packers and Rodgers on a potential contract extension are ongoing, along with that of four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews.Rodgers and his agent, David Dunn, would like to get the deal done before the start of the team's off-season conditioning program on Monday.

Whenever it does go down — a deal that's expected to exceed the six-year, $120.6-million contract Joe Flacco signing shortly after winning the Super Bowl — Hawk said during an interview with the NFL Network's "NFL AM" on Thursday he'll be in favor of the move .

"Let's be honest, all of us minions have nothing that we can offer Aaron that would even come close to anything that he would get," said Hawk, who earlier this off-season agreed to take a $7.5 million pay cut over the next three seasons.

"He deserves every dime he's going to get. He's going to get a billion dollars, probably, so I'm OK with anything they want to give him because he's one of the best in the world and he deserves everything."

Hawk on what the Packers defense needs to do to regain traction following their loss to the 49ers in the playoffs last season:

"It's tough. A loss like that, especially when an offense kind of has their way with you, it's tough to come back from. But we'll be back, we'll be ready. We're starting here with our off-season stuff this coming week. Coach Dom Capers has a lot of good things in store for us and there's nothing you can do but try to get up and start fighting.

"To lose and end your season like we did, you feel like you let everyone in Green Bay down; we let our offense down for sure with how we played as a defense. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again."

On Brian Urlacher no longer playing for the Chicago Bears:

"It's definitely going to be weird. I'm going into my eighth year, so I've seen a lot of things that you never thought you would see. I came in and played two years with Brett Favre, and with his whole situation that happened you would never think that things would end like that. I'm sure it was a little bit of a shock for everyone around the league when they heard Urlacher wasn't coming back (with Chicago).

"It's tough to stay with it especially the older you get. He did so much for the rivalry (between the Packers and Bears) and he's done so much for the Bears that I have respect for any guy that plays in the league, let alone a guy that has made an impact like him."

Hodkiewicz writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, a Gannett property.



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