Interesting report . . .
What exactly is he saying here?
Is he saying that Jets GM Joe Douglas is willing to give up a first-round pick for Aaron Rodgers and owner Woody Johnson isn’t?
“The Packers are holding out for what they want right now,” said Yahoo NFL columnist Charles Robinson on 100.5 FM in Milwaukee. “Green Bay is stuck on an asking price of a two this year, a straight-shot one next year … and they’d be willing to do the 2025, some sort of draft asset give back, if for some reason Aaron Rodgers doesn’t play in 2024.”
That is certainly what it sounds like.
It almost sounds like the report is making Woody into the heavy here, but is he really, if this report is accurate?
What is wrong with not wanting to give up a first-round pick for a soon-to-be 40-year-old QB who might just play one year?
Why would that thinking make Woody the heal?
And you get the sense that many Jets fans don’t think the team should give up a first-round pick in this deal.
Most insiders don’t get stuff from owners, but they can get stuff from front-office people.
So when you when you decide who to portray as the bad guy, that can factor into the reporting. This stuff often involves a cost-benefit analysis.
Look at Dan Snyder who is about to sell the Washington Commanders. The media hated him, ever since he went to war with the Washington Post many years ago, tired of how they covered him.
I’m not saying Snyder was a good owner. He wasn’t, but let’s be honest, he has plenty of company in all sports.
But not many go to war with the media. That was playing with fire.
He also didn’t cooperate with them, never conducting interviews.
My point here is simple. It’s not to defend Snyder, but more to point out that how certain people are covered is related to how much they help the media.
I’m just surprised at the impliction here that Douglas would be willing to give up a first-round pick for Rodgers. I can’t prove he would, but that is what the report implied, by a well-sourced league insider.
My position on this is simple – if you are assured of getting two full seasons from Rodgers, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, it’s worth a first round pick. But if it’s just one year, it’s not.
So if Rodgers retires after this season, and the Jets had agreed to give Green Bay a 2024 first-round pick, that would be a bad optic, unless they had just won a Super Bowl.
The problem with a conditional first-round pick in 2024 based on Rodgers returning, is you know how he is, he would probably wait until after the 2024 draft to retire, to flip the bird at the Packers.
So right now, a 2023 second and a 2024 second, perhaps a long with a player like Denzel Mims, makes sense.
But this idea that Douglas is willing to give up a first-round pick, and Woody isn’t, if it’s accurate, should not make Woody into the bad guy here, but should actually portray him in a positive light.
April 14, 2023
Premium will return by 9:30 pm or sooner on Monday.