We might be about to watch Aaron Rodgers' last six games for the Jets.
The New York Jets went all in on a 40-year-old quarterback to save their franchise and get them out of the worst playoff drought in professional sports and [checks notes], surprise, it's not working. New York's Aaron Rodgers experiment has been a colossal failure through nearly two seasons. The head coach is now gone. The general manager is now gone, and the rumors are that unless he plays significantly better in the final stretch of the 2024 season, Aaron Rodgers will be gone, too.
“With Jets owner Woody Johnson set to replace the team's leadership, sources say there are now questions about whether Rodgers will be welcomed back to the team next season,” NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport writes. “There has been no firm and final decision, but sources with knowledge of Johnson's thinking say Rodgers must play far better down the stretch for the opportunity to return in 2025.”
Rodgers turns 41 on December 2, so expecting him to play significantly better moving forward seems like a pipe dream, especially for an organization in so much chaos. And to think he'll do even better than that in his age 41/42 season is even more preposterous. Still, it's the Jets, so anything can happen.
The Jets messed up getting Aaron Rodgers
Just five years after drafting Sam Darnold No. 3 overall and two years after taking Zach Wilson No. 2 overall, the Jets completely scrapped their quest to find a young franchise quarterback and brought in Aaron Rodgers who, at 39 at the time, had his best days well behind him.
New York paid what amounted to a second-round pick and a few pick swaps for the QB, who tore his Achilles just four plays into his first season and has gone 3-8 as a starter in his second. Now, the Jets are once again back to square one with a lot of talent all over the field and no QB to make it all work. They even traded for Rodgers' buddy, Davante Adams, this year, and now, for the second time in the last half-decade, Adams finds himself on a team where he thought his friend would be the QB but they are not (or will not be soon).
This is a mess of Jets-ian proportions that likely won't get better until owner Woody Johnson either sells or goes completely hands-off with the team.
