general manager Thomas Dimitroff announced shortly after Chris Paul Jersey being eliminated from last season's playoffs by the eventual Super Bowl LII champion that quarterback contract extension was a major offseason priority. He has accomplished his objective. Ryan became the NFL's first $30 million-per-year player last week after signing a five-year, $150 million extension with an NFL record $100 million in overall guarantees. The 2016 NFL MVP's contract raises the bar in practically all key metrics. In addition to becoming the standard bearer in average yearly salary and overall guarantees, Ryan's contract establishes new benchmarks in money fully guaranteed at signing ($94.5 million), three-year cash flow ($94.5 million) and first-three-new-years' compensation ($98.25 million). His $46.5 million signing bonus is the second most in an NFL contract, trailing only the $50 million received last August from the in a five-year, $135 million extension.The top of the quarterback market has seen remarkable growth in the last year, with deals rising by approximately 22 percent during this span. By contrast, high-end quarterback contracts increased by just under 23 percent in the first 52 months after became the NFL's highest paid player in April 2013 with a five-year, $110 million extension. Rodgers is expected to be the last piece of the quarterback-salary puzzle this offseason. general manager Brian Gutekunst has expre sed optimism that a deal could get done soon. Rodgers has two years remaining on his contract, which is the same timetable as when he received his existing deal. He is scheduled to make $42 million through the 2019 season. Rodgers' salary is $20.9 Thabo Sefolosha Jersey million this year and $21.1 million next year. It's probably just a matter of time before Rodgers replaces Ryan as the league's highest-paid player. The real questions are how much more will Rodgers get than Ryan and whether he will advance the ball in most of the important financial measures like the Falcons quarterback has. If the past is prologue, then developments in the quarterback market and Green Bay's structural conventions, particularly with Rodgers' current deal, should be fairly indicative of the two-time NFL MVP's next contract. Average yearly salaryAverage yearly salary is the most popular contract measure with the general public. This metric can be somewhat misleading because it doesn't give a complete picture of a contract. Nonethele s, the financial relationship between the NFL's highest paid and second-highest paid players by average yearly salary since the Collective Bargaining Agreement was ratified in 2011 can help put into context Rodgers becoming the league's salary leader again. The chart below illustrates the difference. Players who were briefly at the top of the NFL salary hierarchy but were overtaken because of a subsequent deal shortly thereafter, as with in both 2013 and 2016 and last, were not taken into account.YearHighest paidAverage salarySecond-highest paidAvg. salaryPercent difference2011Tom Brady/Peyton Manning$18, P. J. Tucker Jersey 000,000$16,250,00010.77%2012$20,000,000$19,200,0004.17%2013Aaron Rodgers$22,000,000Matt Ryan$20,750,0006.02%2014Aaron Rodgers$22,000,000Matt Ryan$20,750,0006.02%2015Aaron Rodgers$22,000,000$21,900,0000.46%2016$24,564,000Drew Brees$24,125,0001.82%2017Matthew Stafford$27,000,000Derek Carr$25,005,0007.98%Total$155,564,000$147,980,0005.13%The 5.13 percent different between the highest paid and second-highest paid player over the last seven years suggests a $31.5 million average per year for Rodgers.The Packers' preferred contract structureAn agent must know a team's structural conventions during a contract negotiation. Insisting that a team deviate from established structural preferences can hinder the negotiation proce s. It's usually an exercise in futility because teams are extremely reluctant to establish new contractual precedents that will be used against them in future negotiations with other players. Exceptions are most likely to be made with highly-sought-after free agents, superstars and quarterbacks.Packers contracts typically have a vanilla structure. The only guaranteed money in Green Bay deals is a signing bonus. The bigger deals contain a third- or fifth-day-of-the-league-year roster bonus in the second and third years. The roster bonuses are supposed to be substitutes for additional contract guarantees. The overall guarantees in Green Bay contracts are usually le s than comparable deals on other teams.Per-game roster bonuses and workout bonuses are a requirement in Green Bay's most lucrative veteran contracts. Rodgers and have the biggest per-game Sterling Brown Jersey roster bonuses at $600,000 annually. The per-game amount is payable only if a player is on the 46-man active roster for that particular game. For example, Rodgers' broken collarbone last season cost him $337,500 because he didn't earn nine games worth of the roster bonuses. The injury limited Rodgers to seven games in 2017. Multiple players have $500,000 workout bonuses in each year of their respective deals.Rodgers' existing contractRodgers had two years left totaling $20.75 million when he signed the five-year extension in 2013. His 2013 salary was $9.75 million. It was $11 million in 2014. Green Bay made structural conce sions with Rodgers by giving him roster-bonus guarantees in his second and third contract years. His $9.5 million first-day-of-the-league-year roster bonus in 2014 was guaranteed for skill and injury at signing. The $9.5 million 2015 first-day-of-the-league-year roster bonus was guaranteed for injury at signing. It became fully guaranteed on the third of the 2014 league year. Rodgers is the only player on the Packers with a veteran contract that has guarantees after the first contract year. None of Rodgers' base salaries were guaranteed.Rodgers' $54 million was the fourth-largest amount of guaranteed money ever received in an NFL contract when he signed his contract. Only Drew Brees ($60.5 million), Peyton Manning ($58 million) and ($55 million) had more. Ryan also topped Rodgers with his subsequent extension a few months later. Rodgers' $44.5 million was the most fully guaranteed at signing for a quarterback and second in the NFL. It trailed the $53.25 million Lions wide receiver got in his 2012 extension, which made him NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback.Rodgers' $35 million signing bonus was the second-biggest ever. Brees had an NFL-record $37 million signing bonus when he became the league's first $20 million-per-year player in 2012. Unlike most signing bonuses, none of Rodgers' money was deferred to the following calendar year. He made $40 million in 2013.Rodgers had $62.5 million in the first three years of his contract, which was the best three-year cash flow in the NFL. His $68 million over the first three Jae'Sean Tate Jersey years was also more than everyone else's.Slightly under 27 percent of the $130.75 million over the seven years was in a signing bonus. Out of th