Content available exclusively for subscribers
Who is swearing him to that?
Speaking at a technology event in Green Bay on Monday, Packers President Mark Murphy offered no update on the Aaron Rodgers trade talks with the Jets.
“Yeah and you know, we’ve got no other news really going on,” Murphy said, laughing. “I would love to tell you everything you want to know about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, but I’m sworn to secrecy not to say anything.”
Sworn to secrecy by who? He runs the Packers. He’s the top guy in the organization. Who can sware a boss to secrecy?
Maybe he swore himself to secrecy after he probably said too much speaking at a WIAA girls’ basketball state tournament when he spoke of Rodgers as a Packer in the past tense.
So where do things stand?
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who used to be a Green Bay Packer beat reporter, and is still very plugged into that organization, provided us the most cogent update this morning.
“The Packers are not looking for the type of package the Broncos gave up for Russell Wilson, which are two 1’s, two 2’s and three players,” Pelissero said. “They are not looking for the multiple ones the Rams got in the Matthew Stafford deal for Jared Goff.”
However . . .
“They are not going to take the third-round pick that the Colts gave the Falcons last year for Matt Ryan in that trade,” Pelissero said. “Somewhere in between is the magic formula on this trade gets done.”
Pelissero made a really interesting point, some of us (including me), might not have thought about.
There is nothing preventing Rodgers this off-season, before a trade is consummated, from gathering a bunch of Jets players in California, or wherever, and holding informal camps to get on the same page.
That would break no NFL rules.
What a spectacle that would be. Rodgers, still a Packer, holding workouts, in a park somewhere, with a bunch of players from another team, to develop chemistry. That would be wild. Not sure we have ever seen that before. We have seen players from different teams work on conditioning stuff together at facilities in places like Florida and Texas, but have we ever seen a player working out with a bunch of players on a team he’s expected to be traded to, but hasn’t been dealt yet? That might be a first if it happens.
I still think a part of the compensation for Rodgers needs to be some kind of conditional pick if he plays in 2024.
Maybe I’m in the minority on this one, but I think whether he plays in 2024 is a huge factor in the trade value.
It makes very little sense to give up a first-round pick for a one-year rental.
But let’s say the Jets do give up their 2023 first-round pick, 13th overall, for Rodgers. If they do at some point give in to that, I do think they need to get back a fairly high pick, in 2024, if Rodgers retires after one season. Not a first-round pick, but maybe a 2 or a 3.
Because to me, if Rodgers plays two seasons for the Jets, and plays well, which most expect him to do, he’s worth a first-round pick. Maybe he won’t be vintage Rodgers, but probably still a very good version, so then a first-round pick for two years is worth it.
But the Jets need to protect themselves if he turns into a one-year rental.
March 21, 2023
Premium will return by 9:30 pm or sooner on Wednesday.