Report: Aaron Rodgers trade to Jets is 'essentially done'
The Aaron Rodgers saga took another turn on Saturday morning as a report from SNY's Connor Hughes says that a trade to send the star quarterback to the New York Jets is "essentially done."
Hughes reports that "everything that needs to be done is essentially done" between the Jets and Green Bay Packers and a deal is contingent on Rodgers' decision on whether he wants to play for the Jets – or at all – in 2023.
Getting that answer might take some work. Rodgers has channeled his inner Brett Favre since the season ended, going as far as embarking on a four-day darkness retreat to ponder his future.
Rodgers reportedly met with Jets owner Woody Johnson in California earlier this week and his potential teammates have begun their recruiting pitch with Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner burning a cheesehead as a bizarre offering to the four-time MVP and former Super Bowl champion.
But even if the decision is up to Rodgers, he may no longer have a home in Green Bay. Rumblings that the Packers were done with Rodgers were a constant theme during last week's NFL Scouting Combine and Packers president Mark Murphy seemed to hint those rumors were true in an interview with WBAY's Adriana Torres on Friday night.
“We are fortunate to have back-to-back hall of fame quarterbacks,” Murphy said. “It kind of happens in our game. Very few players play for only one team. Brett had a great career here. Aaron had a great career here. Regardless of what happens, Aaron will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He will be in our hall of fame. We will bring him back and retire his number. But this is just one of the things that you go through as a team. We want to try to achieve something that is good for both Aaron and us," said Murphy.
Murphy later confirmed that the Packers did give Rodgers permission to talk with the Jets, but also expressed optimism when it came to Rodgers's potential successor Jordan Love, who Green Bay selected in the first round of the 2020 draft.
"We have a lot of confidence in him,” Murphy said. “We drafted him and developed him. A lot of credit goes to our coaches and to Jordan. We do think he is ready.”
At this point, it's unknown what the next turn in this story will be.
Only time will tell.
