The New York Jets made the anticipated — and proper — resolution to formally half methods with quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week, however not with out the longer term Corridor of Famer making one final plea to stay because the workforce’s signal-caller.
In response to a report from the New York Put up on Saturday, in his remaining assembly with Jets administration, Rodgers pleaded with them to offer him not less than one other yr or two to stay with the group as its quarterback.
It clearly didn’t work, and the Jets formally moved on.
Rodgers will nearly actually by no means admit to that kind of exit, nevertheless it is sensible why he would possibly make that kind of plea to stay with the workforce regardless of two forgettable and disappointing seasons.
For one, if he might have persuaded the Jets to maintain him, he would have been underneath contract for $37.5 million throughout the 2025 season.
Rodgers should know that there is not one other workforce within the NFL that’s prepared to offer him something near that quantity — not after the best way he performed in 2024.
He’s going to show 42 late subsequent season, and his groups have gained simply 13 of the previous 34 video games he has began and accomplished. It isn’t an important latest observe document, and it isn’t more likely to get higher sooner or later as he will get older.
Rodgers may also have a tough time discovering a brand new dwelling in any respect. The groups out there for a quarterback this offseason are nearly actually going to be on the lookout for a youthful, long-term choice on the place. The one quarterback-needy workforce that’s even within the universe of contender standing is the Pittsburgh Steelers, they usually could not need to cope with the sideshow circus that Rodgers brings to city. They’re additionally in all probability on the lookout for long-term stability — or not less than an affordable short-term choice.
Even when he does discover a workforce with a mutual curiosity, it is unlikely he’ll get the kind of energy and management he appeared to have with the Jets.
When the Jets acquired Rodgers previous to the 2023 season, the hope was that he might assist flip the franchise into an prompt contender. The Jets constructed all the pieces round what Rodgers wished, proper right down to the offensive coordinator, and introduced in a number of of his most popular former teammates from Inexperienced Bay.
Your entire ordeal turned out to be a multitude. Rodgers tore his Achilles simply 4 performs into his Jets profession and missed the rest of the 2023 season. When he returned in 2024, he was a shell of his former self. The Jets gained fewer video games with him (5) than they did within the two earlier seasons (seven wins every in 2022 and 2023).
Together with the off-field distractions and chaos that Rodgers constantly introduced, the complete factor was a bitterly disappointing ordeal — even by New York Jets requirements. All people might be completely happy to have a brand new quarterback in 2025, whoever it may be.
