Rodgers Trade Seems Formality Ahead of ‘McAfee’ Appearance

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 15, 2023 12:55 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 14, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ trade of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets might not be officially done but there’s a bakery’s worth of breadcrumbs suggesting it’s a formality.

Allen Lazard, Rodgers’ No. 1 target last season, agreed to sign with the Jets. Would the Jets have wanted Lazard without Rodgers’ involvement? Sure. Lazard is a good player and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett knows him well and how he’ll fit in the offense he’s installing. But would Lazard have been so interested in the Jets, especially after the (almost) lifelong Midwesterner said he wanted to play someplace warm?

ESPN.com’s Dianna Russini reported Rodgers wanted the Jets to target Lazard and former Green Bay teammates Randall Cobb and Marcedes Lewis. Sure enough, sources said, yes, the Jets were interested.

Rodgers even has been recruiting players to the Jets.

The Jets want Rodgers. That’s been obvious through their decision to court him rather than Derek Carr. The Packers want Jordan Love. That’s been obvious through what general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine and what team President Mark Murphy told reporters on Friday at the Wisconsin state girls basketball tournament.

This isn’t difficult. Where would you rather work? The place where the boss really wants you or the place where the boss is ready to hand your job to the kid he found on Zip Recruiter? Being wanted matters, especially to a sensitive man like Rodgers.

It’s abundantly clear that when Rodgers appears on The Pat McAfee Show at noon (Central) on Wednesday, it will be to discuss his future with the Jets and his past with the Packers.

And yet, there’s that little bit of uncertainty. The Packers, for instance, had no idea what Rodgers was going to say. While general manager Brian Gutekunst has been in contact with his representatives from Athletes First, the two incredibly have not spoken since exit interviews at the end of the season.

Two agents who represent Packers free agents weren’t so fast to assume Rodgers was about to be traded.

“Are you sure?” one asked.

“You think 12 is gone for sure?” another replied. “Hard to see him staying but you never know with him.”

He has a point. In 2021, with Rodgers in the process of skipping the entire set of offseason practices, Murphy called his quarterback a “complicated fella.” After offseasons of plant medicine and darkness retreats, it’s not impossible to believe Rodgers will wake up on Wednesday and shock the world with whatever he tells McAfee.

On the other hand, another source was positive Rodgers was off to New York. When Trey Wingo tweeted on Monday that “Rodgers to the Jets is done,” the source responded, “Old news.” On a follow-up, he said, “It’s been done, man. Effectively. Old news.”

So, we wait. Will Rodgers’ brilliant Green Bay career end in a trade to the Jets, just like it did with Brett Favre? Will Rodgers make the announcement LeBron James-style with his infamous, made-for-TV “Decision” from 2010? Rather than taking his talents to South Beach, Rodgers will be taking his talents to The Big Apple.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas would be making an enormous gamble. Is Rodgers, who will turn 40 in December, good enough to lead the Jets to their first Super Bowl since 1969 when he fell short so many times in Green Bay, including with dismal fourth-quarter showings in elimination games against Tampa Bay in 2020, San Francisco in 2021 and Detroit in 2022? Is it worth handing the assistant general manager title to Rodgers, just like Packers GM Brian Gutekunst did?

From Gutekunst’s perspective, there’s almost no gamble at all. Rodgers is one of the greatest players in the history of football. But this iteration of the Packers, which over the course of two years had fallen from 13-4 to 8-9, had run its course.

“I will say our season last year certainly adjusted some things and our thinking a little bit,” Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine.

Rodgers’ play showed signs of decline. There’s the financial angle, as well, with a trade meaning a chance to hit the reset button and get off the salary-cap carousel.

Moreover, most fans are done with the charade. From their perspective, is Jordan Love good enough? Who cares, it’s time to move on with a talented player who is fully committed to the organization.

It is time to move on. It’s time for everyone to move on. It’s time for the Packers to start a new chapter. It’s time for Rodgers to start a new journey. It’s time for new legends to be made.

“There’s been a lot of fun dreaming about retiring as a Packers because there’s something really special about that,” Rodgers told McAfee on Jan. 24. “But if the competitive hole still needs to be satiated and it’s time to move on, then I hope everybody would look at that with a lot of gratitude and not any resentment. Or, even on the flip side, ‘Let’s fucking get rid of this old guy. It’s time to move on.’ I hope there’s some gratitude on both sides if that happens.”