Leverage? Jets’ Saleh: ‘No Hurry’ on Rodgers

The New York Jets want Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers but they’re in “no hurry” to seal the deal on a trade.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 27, 2023 8:42 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 27, 2023

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Football is a game of leverage. It is in the trenches in September going into January and it is in the ongoing Aaron Rodgers trade talks in March headed into April.

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh made that clear at the league meetings in Phoenix on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Saleh said, “You’d always like to” have the trade done by now but, at the same time, there’s no smashing of the panic button. There’s plenty of time with the NFL Draft beginning in exactly one month on April 27 and the first practice of organized team activities not until May 22.

“There’s great rapport with the coordinator,” Saleh said of Rodgers’ three years alongside new Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. “There’s really no urgency. The quarterback is going to understand the system. The quarterback knows it. It’s just a matter of just refining skills and doing all that stuff. So, there’s no hurry on our end.”

Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show two weeks ago, Rodgers blamed the Packers for the delay. Rodgers wants to play for the Jets and the Packers want to turn the page to Jordan Love. The only thing left is to make it happen.

“I made it clear my attention was to play and my intention was to play for the New York Jets,” Rodgers said. “And I haven’t been holding anything up. At this point, it’s been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me and kind of digging their heels in.

“I think it is interesting at this point to step back and look at the whole picture. … The Packers would like to move on. They’ve let me know that in so many words. They’ve let other people know that in direct words. Because I still have that fire and I want to play and I would like to play in New York, it’s just a matter of getting that done at this point.”

With all the NFL’s key decision-makers in Phoenix, including Jets owner Woody Johnson and Packers President Mark Murphy, perhaps the next couple days will lay the groundwork for a league-altering trade of the four-time MVP.

With time on their side, the Jets will wait. The Packers aren’t in a huge hurry to get a trade done, either, so the leverage game – at this point – isn’t especially relevant.

“It takes two to tango, so it’s just a process,” Saleh said. “We respect the process and, whenever it gets done, it’ll get done.”

If Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst’s hope is the Jets will get desperate and increase the compensation, it might be a long wait – so long as Saleh is speaking for the Jets and the Jets hold their ground.

“Honestly, I’m not hitting the panic button,” Saleh said. “I worry about the things I have control over. This is something I have zero control over so I’m just going to focus my energy on the things that I do. And it is what it is. I’m confident. I think that things are going to work out. You guys know me, I’m a very positive person and optimistic so I’m confident that things will go the way we were hoping. But at the same time, it’s not going to eat at me.”

While Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has asked for a trade and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford could be available, as well, Rodgers is the Jets’ man.

“There’s no worry on my end,” former Packers receiver Allen Lazard, who signed with the Jets in free agency, told TMZ Sports. “Especially knowing that Aaron has his full-on commitment to being a New York Jet this year.”

Lazard said the presence of Hackett and knowing that Rodgers was “highly interested” in joining the Jets were the main reasons why he signed with New York in free agency.

Lazard said the Packers’ expectations were “nothing short of the Super Bowl” during his four seasons with the team. It will be the same with the Jets.

“Because that’s been my foundation as far as expectations, I think that’s going to carry over to this year,” he said. “Once the trade goes through and Aaron shows up, just knowing his aura, I think will light a lot of fires underneath a lot of guys in that locker room to really focus and ultimately sacrifice the things that we love and care about to be able to achieve this ultimate goal.”