Report: Rodgers Trade Could Happen ‘This Week’

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 30, 2023 10:44 AM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Could the Aaron Rodgers drama be reaching its crescendo?

In a new mailbag for Sports Illustrated, NFL insider Albert Breer said the Green Bay Packers could trade the four-time MVP quarterback to the New York Jets “this week” and “certainly … before the draft,” which is set to start in four weeks.

Echoing what Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported, Breer thought the Packers would get one of the Jets’ second-round picks in this year’s draft – they own No. 42 and No. 43 overall while the Packers own No. 45 – as well as a conditional pick or picks “down the line.” Those conditions could be based on anything ranging from the Jets’ success in 2023, Rodgers’ success in 2023 and Rodgers’ return to the Jets in 2024.

While trade talks have been ongoing for almost three weeks, Breer cited the relationship between the general managers, Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst and New York’s Joe Douglas, as well as the long-standing friendship between Packers coach Matt LaFleur and Jets coach Robert Saleh.

“I’ve known Joe for a long time,” Gutekunst told reporters on Monday at the NFL meetings in Phoenix. “They’ve been really good discussions, really cordial and we’ll continue to have those conversations. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement sooner than later.”

Moreover, despite the hyperventilation over which team has the leverage in trade talks, it’s obvious both teams need to make it happen.

“I think the sooner the better,” Gutekunst said when asked if trade compensation needed to come in 2023.

With time on their side and the necessity to get it done – the Packers are ready to start the Jordan Love era and the Jets literally have nowhere else to go in their pursuit of a winning quarterback – neither the Packers nor Jets seem concerned about a deal being made.

“I think we’re anxious,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said at the NFL meetings on Tuesday. “We’re anxious, I guess. We look forward. We’re optimistic. We have a plan. We’re willing to stick with our plan. I don’t think anybody is hyperventilating.”

Johnson dismissed the potential availability of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“We’ve got a plan we’re going to stick to. That’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re not going to be distracted by a lot of other things that are happening that could be attractive in some people’s minds but we’re going to stick to our plan.”

The Jets haven’t reached the playoffs since Mark Sanchez led them to back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship Game in 2009 and 2010. That’s not just the longest playoff drought in the NFL, it’s the longest among all teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball.

“I’m not the patient sort, really,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to win. We’re in the win business, so we have to win now. That the same thing I said 23 years ago.”

Backed by a defense that ranked fourth in points allowed last season, Rodgers would vault the Jets into the ranks of Super Bowl contenders.

While the Jets would embrace the sky-high expectations, Packers coach Matt LaFleur already is managing expectations for Love, who has been working out with Romeo Doubs and now Aaron Jones.

“I just think it’s going to be a progression,” LaFleur told reporters on Tuesday. “Certainly, I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think he’s going to go out there and perform at a level to the likes of an Aaron Rodgers. This guy is a once-in-a-lifetime, generational talent, and I don’t think it necessarily started that way when he first started. But he progressed into that.

“Like I said, it’s going to be a progression and, hopefully, we can surround him with enough people to help him perform at the best of his ability. And then we’ve got to do a great job as a coaching staff.”