Packers, Aaron Rodgers near record extension

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers will be back atop the NFL pay scale before the start of the regular season.

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday that the Green Bay Packers and their quarterback are expected to finalize and complete their record-breaking extension before the weekend.

The two sides had been working on this since before the combine in early March, when new general manager Brian Gutekunst said he expected a deal to get done this offseason.

When Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan signed an extension on May 3 that averaged $30 million per season, it cleared the way for the Packers to once again make Rodgers the highest-paid player in the NFL. That came after Jimmy Garoppolo's deal for $27.5 million a year with the 49ers in February and  Kirk Cousins' $28 million a year deal with the Vikings in March.

When Rodgers signed his last contract -- a five-year, $110 million extension that included a $35 million signing bonus and a total of $54 million guaranteed -- he was at the top of the scale at $22 million per year. He surpassed Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who at $20.1 million per season had been the highest paid player in the NFL.

Before this latest deal, he had slipped to ninth. He had two seasons left on that contract and was scheduled to make $20.9 million this season and $21.1 million in 2019.

The 34-year-old Rodgers has said he would like to follow Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and play into his 40s. He's entering his 14th NFL season, but it's only his 11th as a starter after he sat behind Brett Favre for three seasons.

Said Rodgers earlier this offseason: "I've said I'd love to finish my career here."

"Every player would love to be able to pick when and how they finish up," Rodgers said this offseason. "That usually doesn't happen, though. So I'm going to try to play as well as I can for a number of years and hopefully it's here the entire time."

Rodgers has sustained two major injuries in the last five seasons -- a broken left clavicle in 2013 and a broken right clavicle last season. After the first one, he came back the next season and won his second NFL MVP.

The biggest question leading up to this point was how the Packers and Rodgers could structure a deal to ensure they remained as a Super Bowl contender.

"Like the last time, although it was large financial numbers, it was a deal that myself and the team was happy with," Rodgers said earlier this offseason. "It gave us the ability to do some things and made my camp number never go above an unmanageable level. So, obviously, I want to finish my career here. I've said that a number of times and still have two years left on my deal, so we'll see what happens this offseason."