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There is non-stop speculation on what the Jets will do with Aaron Rodgers.
Will they move on and enter QB never-never land again?
Rodgers threw 28 TDs the past season, the same as MVP candidate Josh Allen.
New Jets GM Darren Mougey came to the Jets from the Denver Broncos where he worked in personnel from 2012-2025.
The team won a Super Bowl with a QB at the end of his career, Peyton Manning, in 2015, and for almost the decade that followed, the franchise struggled trying to find a replacement, going with the likes of Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Brett Rypien and Russell Wilson.
Nothing seemed to work. It was a decade-long nightmare for the Broncos and their fans. Mougey was there for all of it.
So why would he be so fast to throw Rodgers to the curb, and possibly enter that space again?
And while the Denver Broncos did land Bo Nix in the 2024 first round, and he did some good things, it’s hard to be totally sold on him. You saw him against the Jets, and his performance against Buffalo in the playoffs left a lot to be desired.
You know what could be an absolute PR disaster for the Jets? If they move on from Rodgers, who goes somewhere else and kicks butt next season, and they have a bad season with a journeyman or rookie under center.
That will be a PR disaster. You can write that down.
Speaking of PR disasters, don’t be surprised if there is a third blockbuster coming from Dianna Russini and The Athletic crew very soon. Why do I say that? Listen to this recent Russini comment on her podcast about Rodgers’ future vis-a-vis candidates who interviewed for the HC and GM jobs:
“Everyone has been asked the same question, ‘What do you want to do with Aaron Rodgers?’ It’s in every interview,” Russini said. “I have yet to speak to a candidate to say let’s stick with him so I don’t know what Aaron Glenn wants to do.”
So once again, with about 30 candidate interviews for the Jets GM and HC position, this gives The Athletic plenty of people to leak stuff to them about Jets and what was said in these interviews.
It’s just a matter of time before a third blockbuster, trying to make the Jets look bad, appears on the New York Times-owned website.
One of the most absurd angles being pushed ad infinitum is that Glenn and Mougey need a clean slate and must get the larger-than-life QB out of the building to build their program.
So you are going to stand on ceremony, get rid of a guy who can clearly still play (he threw 4 TD passes in the last game of the year), because you need a fresh start.
That is an example of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
You could end up entering QB never-never land for several years, like Mougey experienced in Denver, like the Giants are in. The list is long.
“If it was up to me, he’s coming back,” linebacker Quincy Williams said Tuesday during an appearance for Bounty towels. “On the field and off the field, he’s a great person. He takes our game to another level.”
Now you could argue that any player speaking publicly is going to say that, but with all these articles with unnamed sources, how many teammates have you seen quoted ripping Rodgers? Hard to find many.
He is well-respected in the locker room in Florham Park, just like Green Bay.
And he can still play.
Do any of these QBs in the draft look like slam dunks?
Are you going to bring back Sam Darnold, who looks like the top free-agent QB?
They better think this through people, or Mougey could end up in the same position his beloved Broncos were in for almost a decade.
The best plan is pretty obvious. Rodgers comes back for a year or two, and they groom an heir apparent from this draft, or perhaps it’s Jordan Travis, a 2024 fifth-round pick from Florida State, who sat out last season rehabbing a broken leg suffered his last year with the Seminoles.
Because I’m telling you, if they get rid of Rodgers and he kills it somewhere else, and they flounder with a rookie or average vet under center, they are going to hear it, big-time, from the fans and the media. There is no doubt about it.
February 5, 2025
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