Is Rodgers’ Trade Market Evaporating?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets? The Jets want a veteran quarterback and hired Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator. Rodgers to the Las Vegas Raiders? The Raiders need a new quarterback and had Davante Adams making a public push for a reunion.
With the Scouting Combine starting next week and Rodgers out of his darkness retreat, the Green Bay Packers’ longtime starting quarterback might be looking at limited options for next season if his heart’s not set on a return to Green Bay.
The Jets met recently with Derek Carr and reportedly said all the right things.
“They went through top to bottom of why Derek Carr can step in here and take this team not just to the playoffs but to the Super Bowl,” ESPN.com’s Dianna Russini said Tuesday. “And they made it really personal, too. They said, ‘We believe if you come to New York and win, you could be a first ballot Hall of Famer.’”
A source told Packer Central that the Jets weren’t merely looking at Carr as a Plan B should Rodgers not be available. Rather, they liked the 31-year-old’s potential – he was a Pro Bowler in all three seasons alongside new passing-game coordinator Todd Downing – and that they’d be able to get him without giving up a valuable draft pick.
One league source scoffed at the notion.
“Not even close,” he said. “Derek Carr is just a run-of-the-mill quarterback. Aaron might not be who he was a couple years ago but, Rodgers or Carr, that’s not even a discussion.”
Meanwhile, the momentum behind Adams’ public push to bring Rodgers to Las Vegas has vanished.
“Would I be interested in having Aaron Rodgers throw to me?” Adams told reporters after the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas. “Yes. I would love that.
“The [social-media] trolling – I’m first-team all-troll so don’t take none of that too serious but I would love to have that and, obviously, that would be a dream scenario (and) one that I’m very familiar with. But anything you see on Twitter, that’s not a tell of anything. That’s just wishful thinking.”
However, while Raiders coach Josh McDaniels would have welcomed a reunion with retired Tom Brady, the team appears less interested in appeasing Adams by acquiring Rodgers.
Speaking on Barstool’s Bussin with the Boys podcast, Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler dumped buckets of cold water on the Rodgers rumors.
“We’re in charge of filling the most important position on the team," Ziegler said. “There’s some pressure that comes along with that. And however we fill it, it doesn’t mean we’re going to have an immediate answer this year. But, at the end of the day, we have to have an answer in some form or fashion. There’s pressure that comes along with it. That’s also part of the excitement, too.”
Not having “an immediate answer” would suggest the Raiders aren’t going to take a swing at a veteran quarterback and they might not be enamored with a draft pick with the seventh overall pic. Rather, they could go with Jarrett Stidham – he started the final two games of the season in place of Carr – and then dive into what’s expected to be a much better quarterback draft in 2024.
If the Jets go with Carr and the Raiders stick with Stidham, who does that leave if Rodgers wants out? Perhaps the Tennessee Titans, who have lost faith in veteran Ryan Tannehill. Rodgers reportedly has property in suburban Nashville and the Titans are a good team – a prerequisite for Rodgers.
Could Bill Belichick emerge from the shadows? The New England Patriots have always seemed like a logical landing spot; Belichick will turn 71 before the draft and no doubt would love to add one more Super Bowl to his resume.
It would seem unlikely that the Packers would trade Rodgers to an NFC team, especially the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who could be battling the Packers for playoff position.
That thirst to play with a winner might exclude the AFC’s Indianapolis Colts, who enter yet another Andrew Luck-less offseason searching for a quarterback. They’ve added a veteran each of the last three offseasons.
If Rodgers wants to win and the Raiders and Jets are off the table, his best spot would appear to be Green Bay. The Packers went from 13-4 and the No. 1 seed to 8-9 and out of the playoffs. However, the pain of losing Adams in 2022 could be replaced by the gain of having built chemistry with young receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, citing a conversation with a “very important” Packers source, said, “[Green Bay] looks at the contract that Aaron Rodgers signed last year, the commitment that he gave to the team, and believes that at the end of the day, Aaron Rodgers will be back with the Packers.”
Then again, maybe it’s all subterfuge, with the Jets and Raiders trying to play 4-D chess to get the four-time MVP.
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