Aaron Rodgers isn’t having extensive conversions with the Green Bay Packers, but he is speaking with other teams.
The Packers quarterback met with the New York Jets on Monday, according to The 33rd Team’s Trey Wingo. Although no trade is imminent, Rodgers appears open to the idea of playing in New York. In fact, talks continued on Tuesday and elevated to the point where a contingent of Jets officials — including owner Woody Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas, coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — flew to meet with Rodgers in California, per ESPN.
The Jets’ interest in Rodgers and any veteran quarterback on the market is well-known. New York contacted Green Bay about trading for Rodgers in February.
Rodgers has yet to decide if he’s going to play in 2023 or retire. Before the Super Bowl, the embattled quarterback said he’d make his decision after completing what ended up being a three-day isolation retreat. Rodgers’ first comments since ending the retreat provided no further clarity on his situation.
“I don’t want to drag anybody around,” Rodgers said on The Aubrey Marcus Podcast. “I’m answering questions about it because I got asked about it. I’m talking about it because it’s important to me. If you don’t like it, and you think it’s drama, and you think I’m being a diva or whatever, then just tune it out. That’s fine, but this is my life. It’s important to me. I’ll make a decision soon enough, and we’ll go down that road. I’ll be really excited about it.”
Before Rodgers made his comments, general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke about the quarterback’s situation at the NFL Combine.
“He’s a great player, but until we have those conversations, I think all options are on the table,” Gutekunst said. “We need to have those conversations. We want what’s best for the Green Bay Packers, what’s best for him, so we’ll get to that coming up.”
Gutenkunst added he’s hoping for a resolution before free agency begins on March 15. If Rodgers does return to Green Bay next season, his contract will be restructured, Gutenkunst said. The quarterback is scheduled to make $59.465 million guaranteed in 2023.
“He’s my quarterback, so I hope he’s back. If he’s back, we are ready to ball with him,” Aaron Jones said Tuesday on NFL Network. “If not, then we have Jordan Love, who’s more than capable, and he’s ready to ball as well and ready for his shot.”
The Jets have made it clear, from ownership on down, that they view quarterback as the “missing piece” to their Super Bowl hopes. With free agent Derek Carr coming off the market on Monday, the Jets’ pursuit of Rodgers intensified.
Some Jets players have taken to Twitter trying to recruit Rodgers. Running back Breece Hall tweeted “Don’t mind me…Just Manifesting
@AaronRodgers12😅.”
Cornerback Sauce Gardner took a more direct approach, tweeting:
Aye @AaronRodgers12 I promise if you become a Jet, I won’t pick you off in practice & I’ll burn the cheesehead😶 https://t.co/YTVj4H7ZRQ
— D’ROY GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) March 7, 2023
