Recently hired New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn informed Aaron Rodgers they’d be moving on from the veteran quarterback this offseason.
Shortly after that, Steve Helling and Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reported that “Rodgers wasn’t ready for his Jets divorce” and “aggressively urged the Jets to stick with him for another season or two over the course of multiple conversations.”
During a Wednesday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Jets and NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic addressed Rodgers’ mindset this winter.
“I’ll just go with what I know,” Russini said, as shared by Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing. “Nobody had shared with me that Rodgers was begging to stay a New York Jet. In fact, this entire time, I knew that Aaron Rodgers wanted his time in New York to come to an end as well. He knew this chapter was over a while ago. So unless there was a change of heart and he just really fell in love with the Jersey Shore, I have a hard time believing he’s sitting there going, ‘[Jets owner Woody Johnson], let’s fix this…’ I don’t believe any of that.”
There are valid reasons to believe either tale regarding whatever did and/or didn’t happen between Rodgers and the Jets following the 2024 season. Reports surfaced before Week 18 of the campaign concluded claiming that the Jets were ready to move on from Rodgers and friends of the signal-caller such as veteran wide receiver Davante Adams, in part because the relationship between Rodgers and Johnson had allegedly become “irreparable.” Earlier this week, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted that the “timelines” of the new Jets regime and Rodgers simply no longer matched up.
With that said, it’s possible Rodgers saw the writing on the wall and realized he might not become all that coveted of a free agent whenever the Jets officially make him available. Per reporters who cover the clubs, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts seem to be in no hurry to reach out to Rodgers.
On Wednesday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio poured cold water over the idea of Rodgers joining the Los Angeles Rams after it was reported that a reunion between Matthew Stafford and the Rams is the “most likely outcome for” that particular story.
One thing that seems to be clear is that the Jets had no interest in bringing Rodgers back after he repeatedly generated headlines via his appearances on programs such as “The Pat McAfee Show” and after he skipped the club’s two-day mandatory minicamp last offseason to go on a pre-planned trip.
It remains to be seen if any quarterback-needy franchise will welcome Rodgers and all that comes with him before training-camp practices open later this summer.
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