The Aaron Rodgers experiment has been a disaster for the New York Jets. At least when they traded with the Green Bay Packers for Brett Favre, he took them to the playoffs. Nowadays, even a one-and-done trip to the playoffs would seem like paradise for Jets fans. The Jets are now nearly two seasons into the Rodgers era and all they've got to show for it is four snaps in 2023, a torn Achilles, a trip to Egypt (that only Rodgers got to go on) a fired head coach in Robert Saleh, and now, a 3-8 record.
That's three wins with Aaron Rodgers in two years. If this isn't rock bottom the Jets will somehow find a way to get there, but not even trading for Davante Adams has been able to save this season or rejuvenate the four-time NFL MVP.
The latest chapter in this disappointing saga was a 28-27 loss to the middling Indianapolis Colts that saw Rodgers arguably get out-dueled by Anthony Richardson, who was benched earlier this season.
“I'm in my 20th year. I figured out a way to do this for a long time. You have to remember why you fell in love with this game,” Rodgers said after the loss, according to ESPN.
He sounded far from the confident and “younger” 39-year-old quarterback who said he had come to New York to chase another Lombardi Trophy. Now at almost 41 (his birthday is December 2nd), Rodgers was talking about finding ways to stay motivated for the rest of the Jets' season now that they're at 3-8 and fighting with the New England Patriots to stay out of the basement of the AFC East.
That's not a position Rodgers is used to, but it's the reality he and the Jets are currently trying to accept. He wouldn't call this season “shocking”, but in typical Aaron Rodgers fashion, he answered a question without completely answering it.
“That's a buzzword, so I'm not going to touch that response to what you just said,” he told a reporter after the loss to Indy. “I'm just going to echo that I'm disappointed.”
Aaron Rodgers has been a disappointment with the Jets
Disappointed is a state of mind for the Jets, and it's one that even a prime Rodgers would have a hard time overcoming. The problem for him, as well as New York, though, is that he's far from his prime. Even in 2021, when he led the Packers to a 13-4 record while coming off of back-to-back NFL MVP awards, Rodgers was already showing some signs of decline. You had to be watching close in 2021 to notice it, but it became clear in 2022, a season before the Jets traded a mini treasure chest away to get him. Remember, the Packers were 8-9 in 2022 and Rodgers threw 26 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions.
That was the most interceptions he had thrown in years, by far. For comparison's sake, he threw nine in 2020 and 2021… combined. There was also his last play with the Packers, which will live in infamy. Ironically, Brett Favre's last throw with the Packers before he was traded to the Jets was a pick. That was somewhat poetic for Favre, but Rodgers was notoriously protective of the football in Green Bay. Still, his last throw in Green Bay was an interception as well.
Rodgers has thrown 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions in 2024, but those numbers don't tell the whole story. More concerning is the fact that he's averaging just 6.4 yards per throw. He threw for only 184 yards against the Colts, which was his second straight game with under 200 yards thrown. He hasn't thrown for 300 or more yards this season once. His last 300-yard passing game was in 2021. He just doesn't have the juice anymore.
The long and short of it is that Father Time is undefeated for everyone not named Tom Brady. Rodgers is a 40-year-old quarterback coming off a major Achilles injury and while he still does have a few nice plays left in that legendary arm of his…he's honestly a shell of himself.
That's not a huge problem for him in the long term because other than ruining his legacy a bit, he can sail off into the sunset and do darkness retreats to his heart's content. Either that, or he can run for office.
Jets can't go into 2025 with Aaron Rodgers on the roster
It's a bigger problem for the Jets, though, considering the fact that he's under contract for 2025 and recently said he still may want to play next season. If he doesn't care at all about his legacy, the money would be right for him. He's set to make $23.5 million in 2025 and the Jets will have to pay him that no matter how old and crusty he gets. Cutting him or trading him would sti;l result in that $25.5 million cap hit. The Jets could, of course, designate Rodgers as a post-June 1 roster cut or trade him after June 1, which would save them $9.5 million of that $25.5 million. That's somewhat of a tough way to treat an NFL legend, though, and at this point, what trade market does Rodgers have?
The Jets' best and only real option is to hope that Rodgers says “Enough is enough” and retires with some of his dignity and physical health still in check. He'd have to take the ego hit and with an ego the size of his there's always a chance he decides to ride it out, but in no way can the Jets go into 2025 with Rodgers as the answer at quarterback.
New York will have a new coach and likely a new general manger because let's not forget that it was Joe Douglas who orchestrated this mess. The Jets' best bet is to completely wipe the slate clean and tear this thing all the way down to the ground before trying to rebuild again.
It turns out that betting the farm on an aging and eccentric quarterback only works when that quarterback already had six Super Bowl wins under his belt. It worked out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in epic fashion, but the Jets are no Buccaneers. This has been a disaster, and the only way for the Jets to get out of this mess is to cut their losses and move on.
Rodgers will certainly complain about it with Pat McAfee and he'll likely throw the Jets under the bus, but even that fate would be better than one more season of false hope and unrealistic expectations.
