Jets QB Aaron Rodgers Could Have Unlikely Replacement Next Season

The New York Jets are expected to move on from Aaron Rodgers after the two-year experiment fell flat, with one report suggesting an unlikely replacement returning to the team.

Rodgers returned from a torn Achilles this season to high hopes, with many experts predicting the Jets would end their playoff drought. The team instead stumbled to a 5-12 record, struggling on both sides of the ball and enduring internal turmoil that included the firing of both the head coach and general manager.

After the season came to an end with a win over the Miami Dolphins, Rodgers hinted that he expects the Jets to move on with a different quarterback in 2025.

"I'm just more resigned to the reality of the situation," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "I think there's going to be change here, and if I'm a part of the change, then I just want to make sure everybody knows I have nothing but gratitude for my time here."

While the path forward likely won't get any clarity until the Jets make a decision on a new head coach and general manager, NFL.com's Nick Shook suggested the team could have a familiar candidate.

Shook named the Jets as one of nine teams in the running to sign Sam Darnold, who came into the league as a first-round pick of the Jets in 2018 before bouncing around the league and having a career-best season with the Minnesota Vikings.

"As preposterous as this might sound, the Jets are in need of a quarterback," Shook wrote. "They're not in a position to select one of the top two prospects in this draft with the seventh overall pick, and with Aaron Rodgers likely headed elsewhere (or to retirement), everything should be on the table in New York -- including a reunion with a former cast-off."

Shook added that the Jets would only be interested in Darnold at the right price, which remains unclear. Despite a career-best season, Darnold struggled in the team's season finale loss to the Detroit Lions and the wild-card round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday.