The New York Jets are 2-4 through six weeks and appear to be attempting serious forms of damage control in hopes that they can salvage the year and maybe, just maybe, compete for a postseason berth. They have already fired their head coach, Robert Saleh, and replaced him with Jeff Ulbrich, their defensive coordinator, in the interim.
Of course, they also have acquired three-time Pro Bowl Davante Adams via trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, reuniting him with future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In theory, the Jets should have a successful team. However, that was the case before the season started and, as everyone as seen, it has not worked out well for them.
The New York Jets Have Deeper Issues than Needing Another Wide Receiver
When the Jets first acquired Rodgers from the Packers before the 2023 season, they believed that he was the final piece in what would be a Super Bowl-winning roster. Unfortunately, Rodgers got hurt four snaps into his first year with New York. However, his absence did shine a brighter light on what else was wrong with the roster.
The offensive line was, in a word, terrible. While Breece Hall was and is a quality starting running back, the depth behind him was questionable at best. The team’s wide receiver room, which boasted Rodgers’ former Packers teammates Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, underperformed.
And so general manager Joe Douglas spent the offseason addressing these issues. He signed Tyron Smith, a five-time All-Pro, to play left tackle. Additionally, the Jets added wide receiver Mike Williams to bolster the wide receiver room.
Of course, New York also added an offensive lineman (Olu Fashanu), a wide receiver (Malachi Corely), and a new running back (Braelon Allen) with their first three picks in the NFL Draft.
The offense was supposed to be good; but it’s not.
Through six games, Rodgers has completed a career-low 61.8% of his passes for 1,387 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, and an 84.4 passer rating (which would be the lowest of his career).
The offensive line is not as sturdy as it was supposed to be. Williams missed most of the season thus far coming back from injury and now, with Adams on the team, may end up getting traded.
In other words, there are a great deal of problems that the Jets need to fix, and trading for Adams solved none of them.
In a recent article posted on Bleacher Report, NFL analyst Brad Gagnon wrote that he believes Rodgers will end up giving up on the Jets and that this year will be his final season in New York, and perhaps in the NFL.
He wrote:
“The Davante Adams experiment likely won’t save a team that is 2-4, or a 40-year-old quarterback who is currently the league’s sixth-lowest rated passer and hasn’t been elite since 2021.
“The pressure will mount, Aaron Rodgers will become more frustrated and a man who already appeared to lack commitment before it all hit the fan will likely find a way to escape.
“It’s been a gut feeling of mine since the end of the 2023 season, and nothing in these first six weeks has changed that.
“Pretty soon, we’ll have seen the last of Rodgers in New York and possibly the NFL altogether.”
It does seem like Douglas, who is also in the final year of his contract, was banking on some older players being able to recapture the magic of their youth. This trade for Adams, too, feels like a classic Rodgers Hail Mary to spark life into an offense that has shown very little consistency this season.
Will it be enough? Probably not.
Seeing who stays and who goes in New York will be interesting.
