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 long run Corridor of Famer making one final plea to stay because the group’s signal-caller.
In response to a report from the New York Put up on Saturday, in his ultimate assembly with Jets administration, Rodgers pleaded with them to offer him not less than 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 type of exit, but it surely is sensible why he may make that type 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 below contract for $37.5 million through the 2025 season.
Rodgers should know that there is not one other group within the NFL that’s keen to offer 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 incredible current observe report, and it isn’t more likely to get higher sooner or later as he will get older.
Rodgers may additionally have a tough time discovering a brand new house in any respect. The groups available in the market 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 could not need to cope with the sideshow circus that Rodgers brings to city. They’re additionally in all probability searching for long-term stability — or not less than an inexpensive short-term choice.
Even when he does discover a group with a mutual curiosity, it is unlikely he’ll get the type 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 immediate contender. The Jets constructed all the things round what Rodgers wished, proper all the way down to the offensive coordinator, and introduced in a number of of his most popular 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 persistently introduced, the whole factor was a bitterly disappointing ordeal — even by New York Jets requirements. Everyone might be joyful to have a brand new quarterback in 2025, whoever it is likely to be.
