Rodgers Is A Gamble Jets Had To Take
Life is all about taking risks...
It is confirmed.
After weeks of speculation and an entire darkness retreat, Aaron Rodgers has made it known that he plans to play for the New York Jets in 2023.
Appearing in an extended slot on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Rodgers confirmed his intention to play for the Jets in 2023.
That’s all we needed to hear.
The sure-fire future Hall of Famer will be taking his talents to New York.
This drawn-out saga isn’t quite yet done, however. The Jets and the Green Bay Packers still have to thrash out compensation and it remains to be seen how big a price New York will have to pay. This deal will get done, though. The Packers have made it clear they are ready to move on with Jordan Love under center, and the Jets will just want to get this one over the line so they can bask in the glow of finally finding the heir apparent to Joe Namath.
The Jets’ search for a big-time franchise quarterback almost rivalled the search for the Titanic in terms of length. That’s how long this franchise has been scrambling to find a QB that can take them to the promised land.
How ironic will it be that Rodgers will no doubt end up wearing No. 12 during his time in New York, the number made famous by Namath of course. Just like the sports Gods had planned it.
And, whatever the Jets have to give up, it will ultimately be worth it because of what Rodgers will bring on the field. He’s made this franchise relevant again and his mere presence makes the Jets a contender in 2023.
There’s no guarantees this marriage will be a happy one, obviously. Football is the ultimate team game and, as we saw year after year in Green Bay, being an absolute master of your craft at the most important position in the sport doesn’t translate to team success.
Plus, there’s a boatload of baggage that comes with Rodgers. Both on and off the field, a lot of which we have already covered in previous articles, which you can read here and here.
We saw during Rodgers’ extensive segment on The Pat McAfee Show that he’s happy to play the role of villain or heel of the NFL. He’ll go after media members, he’ll call them out by name, he’ll fight every single narrative out there, even if they are largely true, and his war with the Packers seems to be what is holding up this deal being signed, sealed and delivered.
After all, it has been clear for a long, long time that the Packers and Rodgers were heading for an ugly and bitter divorce, and it is playing out exactly like that. The Packers don’t seem to be in any rush to give Rodgers what he wants, and Rodgers in turn is going to take great delight in throwing the Packers under the bus.
That relationship between a storied franchise and an all-time great QB is very nearly at an end, but don’t be surprised if it gets a little uglier before all is said and done.
Of course, Green Bay dragging its heels and prolonging the inevitable could work out well for the Jets in that Rodgers is probably going to be even more motivated to go out and absolutely dominate in 2023 in order to prove that his old team were wrong to want to move on from him.
With that being said, it is important to remember that two things can be right at the same time. I believe that is true in sports and in life, and it is relevant when discussing Rodgers.
Everything has risk attached to it and Rodgers isn’t guaranteed to be a success in New York. It won’t be for the lack of trying on the Jets’ part though. They’ve already been willing to grant Rodgers more power than he had in Green Bay in terms of roster construction by going out and ticking off items on Rodgers’ wish-list. They’ve agreed to terms on a four-year, $44 million deal with wide receiver Allen Lazard, Rodgers’ old running-mate in Green Bay. Veteran wideout Randall Cobb and tight end Marcedes Lewis, both ex-teammates of Rodgers, have also been linked with the Jets.
Rodgers of course came out swinging in response to reports he had given the Jets a wish-list of players he wanted to come and join him in New York. Whether he did or he didn’t, the Jets are doing everything they can to make Rodgers feel comfortable and happy by surrounding him with players he’s familiar with. In doing so, they are handing him the keys to the franchise and that is a dangerous game to play. We saw how that played out with the Brooklyn Nets who got into bed with the devil and sold the very soul of the organization to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, only for all three to bail without getting close to sniffing a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Let alone winning a championship.
Durant, Irving and Harden all played a part in driving the Nets off the cliff before bolting town, and that’s the danger of granting a player too much power. Sure, Rodgers has earned the right to play a role in recruiting players to New York. Plus, Lazard is another nice weapon to have and if Rodgers is successful in luring Odell Beckham Jr. in returning to The Big Apple, then the Jets are going to be a very dangerous team in the NFL in 2023.
But, again, there’s a fine balance with everything and two things can be right at the same time. While the Jets are smart to allow Rodgers to help build a roster that he’s going to be the heartbeat of, he shouldn’t be allowed to run the entire operation.
There’s already been some concerning red flags to that end. While he has since admitted on The Pat McAfee Show that he was “90% close to retiring” prior to entering his darkness retreat, Rodgers still effectively held two franchises hostage and allowed the guessing games to continue just as NFL Free Agency opened, one of the most important dates of the football year. Now, Rodgers did also make it clear that he made the decision on Friday and blamed the Packers for holding up the trade. Regardless, he dragged this whole thing out as long as he could and the Jets are now in a position where they have no choice but to get this done with Rodgers because all of the other QB options are off the board.
Again, Rodgers seemingly relishes playing the bad guy and he knows what he’s doing by going after media members by name, as he did with Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. He enjoys those public sparring matches and that’s why he won’t have a problem dealing with the intense and relentless New York media. He’ll find it a breeze.
However, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be times throughout the season, most notably if the Jets hit a skid or if there’s a miscommunication between Rodgers and one of his teammates on the field, where the New York media will come out swinging and Rodgers is going to throw a tantrum and it will become an ugly story in seconds. While that won’t bother Rodgers, it could impact the room and it may have a detrimental impact on the young core the Jets have put together.
And that’s the very real danger with this whole thing. General Manager Joe Douglas and Head Coach Robert Saleh have done a superb job in building a team-first culture within the confines of Florham Park, and we started to see that bear fruit on the field in 2022. Heck, if it wasn’t for bad quarterback play, the Jets would have been a playoff team given the talent they have assembled. They boast an elite defense that is capable of carrying any team to a Super Bowl, they have potent weapons on the offensive side of the ball in running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson to name just a couple, and cornerback Sauce Gardner is already developing into a real star in the league just one year into his career.
But those young players need guidance, they need leadership and they need a quarterback who is going to set the tone in a positive way on and off the field. If Rodgers engages in public war of words with the media or goes on national platforms like The Pat McAfee Show to push his agenda against the government or COVID-19, then it is those budding young stars in the locker room who are going to have to deal with the fallout. They will be cornered after every single game and will get peppered with questions relating to the latest antics pertaining to their high-profile quarterback.
Rodgers is like a grenade that could go off at any minute. And, once it does, the wreckage could be devastating and it could blow apart everything good the Jets are trying to build right now.
There’s also a hidden wrinkle in all of this that is Zach Wilson. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft is already at a very important crossroads in his young career having stunk out the building in 2022. His career as an NFL starter is already hanging by a thread but, with Rodgers in the building, he has a really rare opportunity to learn from the elite of the elite and put himself in the best position to succeed and prove he can still be a high-end starter once Rodgers has hung up the cleats. However, in order for that to happen, Rodgers is going to have to be engaged, all in and willing to take Wilson under his wing, set a good example and teach him all he knows.
Now, I will point out that all indications are that Rodgers was nothing but great to Jordan Love with the Packers, and that Rodgers was a really good mentor. If he can be that in New York, cut out the silly crap and act as a role model not just for Wilson but for the rest of the Jets’ young studs, then the Jets will be reaping the benefits of their relationship with Rodgers years after he’s gone.
Before we move on to the positives, because this isn’t intended to be a Rodgers hit piece, it is also important to note Rodgers’ regression in 2022. Everything that could have gone wrong for the Packers last year did. They went 8-9, missed the playoffs and the picture was actually a lot bleaker outside of Rodgers and Green Bay attempting a mini resurgence late on. On a personal level, Rodgers endured one of his worst seasons statistically. He threw for 26 touchdowns and 3,695 passing yards, but the 12 interceptions were the most picks he’s thrown since the 2010 season.
If you pop up the hood and dive into the underlying metrics, Rodgers had a total EPA (Expected Points Added) of -16.5 and a EPA/Dropback of -0.03. It was just a bad year all around and it resulted in Rodgers going after teammates and calling out some of his younger colleagues in interviews and on the field. Again, those are red flags that need to go away and be burnt if Rodgers is going to be a success in New York.
Now, here’s the good news for Jets fans. Firstly, Rodgers isn’t that far removed from winning back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021 and absolutely dominating the NFL with insane highlight-reel throws. He threw a combined total of 85 touchdowns across those two seasons and elite talent doesn’t just drain away overnight. Rodgers is still going to be very capable of playing at an MVP level in 2023 and perhaps in 2024 too. After all, his throwing ability never declined in 2022, his accuracy rate actually improved and his deep throws were still as dangerous as ever.
Plus, you can’t discount the fact that Rodgers was on a garbage Packers team in 2022. They resembled an absolute clown show at times and you can’t blame Rodgers for being pissed at the front office for the fact they failed time and time again to give him the weapons he needed to win. That won’t be the case with the Jets. As already mentioned, they boast a championship caliber defense, Hall was emerging as one of the best young running backs in football before suffering a season-ending injury, Wilson will be even better in his second year, Elijah Moore should get more looks in this offense, C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin as a tight end duo is really underrated and then you have the new guys.
Lazard has a telepathic like relationship with Rodgers, and he set career-highs in catches (60) and receiving yards (788) in 2022, while collecting the second-most touchdowns of his career (six). Plus, at 6-foot-5, Lazard is a big body and he’ll add a different dimension to that Jets’ wideout group. And, if Rodgers is able to also bring Randall Cobb, Marcedes Lewis and Odell Beckham Jr. to New York with him, then he’ll automatically have more legit weapons with his new team than he did with the Packers over the past few years. Plus, he’ll also have the luxury of a super-talented defense.
Oh, and let’s not forget that he’ll be reuniting with his good friend Nathaniel Hackett, who is the new Offensive Coordinator for the Jets. That familiarity is key and is another item in the plus column when making the case for why Rodgers will work out in The Big Apple. Having someone he knows and trusts as his OC should ensure that Rodgers hits the ground running once camp opens.
Put simply, Rodgers is going to be put in the best possible position to succeed with the Jets and he’ll have a front office who will do everything within their power to give their shiny new toy everything he needs to go hunt down a championship.
It is feasible to suggest that even if the Jets are getting 80% of what Rodgers was in 2020 and 2021, they have enough on the roster to at least be a playoff team. In order to scale the mountain top and win a first Super Bowl since 1969, however, they will need Rodgers to bring his absolute best super-human stuff to the table.
It is possible. For starters, after the Packers spat in the face of Rodgers’ desire for the team to go out and draft a high-end receiver in 2020, they instead selected another QB and eventual successor in Jordan Love, Rodgers bottled that frustration and anger and used it to fuel a season for the ages. He amassed 4,299 passing yards with 48 touchdowns and just five picks, before following that up with 37 touchdowns and another MVP campaign in 2021.
Given that Rodgers will be playing with a rather sizeable chip on his shoulder in 2023, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to suggest that he will be extra motivated to absolutely ball out in order to prove the Packers wrong and prove to the rest of the world that he’s still got it. That’s only going to be a good thing for the Jets.
And, given that his window to win a second Super Bowl is rapidly closing, Rodgers has a real opportunity to re-write the narrative and achieve something special in the biggest market in America. He can put this young Jets team on his back, lead them to glory and be remembered forever. That would be the ultimate exclamation point on his Hall of Fame resume.
With a front office actually willing to give their QB the tools to succeed, a young and talented roster, a franchise very much on the rise and a boatload of motivation to boot, Rodgers won’t have many excuses if he crashes and burns in New York.
This whole experiment going horribly wrong and spiralling out of control quickly is possible, of course, because of the slew of red flags we mentioned. This relationship is either going to flourish or it is going to crash and burn in spectacular fashion. There’s going to be no in-between or comfy middle ground.
However, because of where this team is right now in terms of their trajectory, because of Rodgers’ insane talent level, because most of the pieces are in place, and because of their relentless thirst to be relevant once more, this was a gamble the New York Jets absolutely had to take. They had no choice.
Aaron Rodgers is exactly the type of quarterback you gamble absolutely everything for. When he’s at the very peak of his powers, he’s well worth it.
The Jets have now pushed all their chips into the middle of the table, they are as much all in as is humanly possible and now all there is left to do is wait and see how this all plays out.
It’s gonna be one hell of a fun ride no matter how it ends.
