The New York Jets made the anticipated — and proper — determination to formally half methods with quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week, however not with out the long run Corridor of Famer making one final plea to stay because the group’s signal-caller.
In keeping with a report from the New York Publish on Saturday, in his remaining assembly with Jets administration, Rodgers pleaded with them to present him at the very least one other 12 months or two to stay with the group as its quarterback.
It didn’t work, and the Jets formally moved on.
Rodgers will virtually definitely by no means admit to that form of exit, nevertheless it is sensible why he would possibly make that form of plea to stay with the group regardless of two forgettable and disappointing seasons.
For one, if he may have persuaded the Jets to maintain him, he would have been beneath contract for $37.5 million throughout the 2025 season.
Rodgers should know that there is not one other group within the NFL that’s keen to present him something near that quantity — not after the way in which he performed in 2024.
He’s going to show 42 late subsequent season, and his groups have received simply 13 of the previous 34 video games he has began and accomplished. It is not an ideal latest observe report, 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 house in any respect. The groups out there for a quarterback this offseason are virtually definitely going to be searching for a youthful, long-term choice on the place. The one quarterback-needy group that’s even within the universe of contender standing is the Pittsburgh Steelers, they usually might not wish to cope with the sideshow circus that Rodgers brings to city. They’re additionally most likely searching for long-term stability — or at the very least an affordable short-term choice.
Even when he does discover a group with a mutual curiosity, it is unlikely he’ll get the form of energy and management he appeared to have with the Jets.
When the Jets acquired Rodgers earlier than the 2023 season, the hope was that he may assist flip the franchise into an instantaneous contender. The Jets constructed the whole lot round what Rodgers needed, proper all the way down to the offensive coordinator, and introduced in a number of of his most well-liked former teammates from Inexperienced Bay.
Your complete 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 received 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, your complete factor was a bitterly disappointing ordeal — even by New York Jets requirements. All people might be comfortable to have a brand new quarterback in 2025, whoever it may be.
