Aaron Rodgers wants to continue playing in 2023 and he intends for it to happen with the New York Jets, the Green Bay Packers quarterback said on The Pat McAfee show Wednesday.
“The [Packers] want to move on. They don’t want me to come back,” Rodgers said. “The Packers want to move on, and now, so do I.
“My intention is to play, and my intention is to play for the New York Jets.”
Rodgers said his decision to return for this coming season was made on Friday. No trade has been agreed to, as the Jets and Packers continue to work on compensation terms.
>>WATCH: Packers Have All Trade Leverage
“I haven’t been holding anything up. It’s the compensation that the Packers are trying to get,” Rodgers said. “The Packers want to move on and have let me know that in so many words.”
Rodgers met with the Jets in early March after the Packers granted him permission. Owner Woody Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas, coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett flew to Southern California to meet with Rodgers. Hackett, who was Rodgers’ offensive coordinator in Green Bay from 2019-2021, played a big part in the quarterback’s decision to play for the Jets.
“There’s one coach there that’s meant as much to me as any coach I’ve ever had, and he happens to be the coordinator,” Rodgers said, referring to Hackett.
>>WATCH: Players Love Playing For Hackett
The longtime Packers quarterback said he entered his isolation retreat in late February 90 percent sure he would retire, but when he emerged, he was hearing through league sources that the Packers were trying to trade him. Rodgers mentioned Packers president Mark Murphy’s interview last week where Murphy referred to Rodgers’ Packers career in the past tense as an indication he knew Green Bay had already moved on.
“I have all too well understood and experienced this in my own career. This is who the Green Bay Packers are, he’s exactly right. You get older and they try to get rid of you prior to you being a liability for them, and more often than not, they are right, and they’re doing things to ensure the organization continues to progress,” former Packers receiver and Rodgers’ teammate Greg Jennings said. “I agree with him, if it had not been for the back-to-back MVPs, this would have been accelerated. However, with it being the situation that we now know, him going into the dark place and coming out to the news [that the Packers were shopping him], my takeaway is that he had no intentions of going back to Green Bay. He was either going to retire, or wasn’t going to play in Green Bay.”
According to an ESPN report, Rodgers gave the Jets a list of free agent receivers he wanted them to sign, including Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Marcedes Lewis and Odell Beckham Jr. Rodgers, however, denied the report to McAfee, calling it “stupid.”
The Jets and Lazard agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal on Tuesday, and they’ve reportedly been interested in both Cobb and Lewis.
Rodgers finished last season with 3,700 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, as the Packers missed the postseason with an 8-9 record. It was the Packers’ first losing season since 2016, breaking their streak of three consecutive seasons with 13 wins.
Although Rodgers’ 2022 season wasn’t up to his usual standard, it was much better than what the Jets had at quarterback. New York emphasized acquiring a veteran quarterback this offseason after benching former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson multiple times in 2022.
Wilson struggled mightily during his second season, completing just 54.4 percent of his passes and compiling a 7-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Backups Mike White and Joe Flacco each went 1-3. Ensconced in the playoff hunt through late November, the Jets dropped their final six games to finish 7-10, but boasted several young playmakers and one of the league’s better defenses.
“I’m not sitting here saying that the Jets are going to win a championship, but with Rodgers under center, with the talent that they have pending that they don’t have to give up a ton of assets currently on their roster [in a trade for Rodgers], the Jets are a viable team in the AFC,” Jennings said.
The Packers are now poised to move on to Jordan Love, whom the team selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Love apprenticed behind Rodgers for three seasons, playing in 10 games and showing enough progress that the team decided it was time for him to take the reins of coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.
The Packers have been loud in their praise of Love this offseason. Rodgers joined along on Wednesday.
“Jordan (Love) is going to be a great player,” Rodgers said. “He’s a great kid, they got a good young team.”
