Hall of Famer Jared Allen 'not opposed' to Vikings bringing in Aaron Rodgers

The Aaron Rodgers era is officially over with the New York Jets.

The parallels have been drawn since Rodgers signed with the Jets, but now it's not that unrealistic to think Rodgers could complete the Brett Favre arc full circle. Rodgers won a Super Bowl and starred for years with the Green Bay Packers, but became disgruntled when they drafted his replacement. Eventually the Packers decided to move on, which led Rodgers to sign in New York. And after a disappointing stint with the Jets, Rodgers will now be looking for another new opportunity.

All he needs to do is sign with the Minnesota Vikings, and that arc is complete.

Jared Allen, who was recently inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, was a member of that Vikings team in 2009 that brought in Favre and eventually made a run to the NFC Championship Game. After that experience, Allen is open to the idea of the Vikings bringing Rodgers in next year, knowing exactly what it looked like the last go-around.

"And it's creepy how it's the same path, right?" Allen told Kay Adams on Tuesday on FanDuel TV's Up & Adams. "(Favre) went to the Jets, everybody thought (Favre) as done, he came to us in (2009), and he had fire. He was hungry, and we went out and destroyed the North. ... I'm not about to (the Vikings bringing in Rodgers). I'm not opposed."

Allen remembers that run, and he also sees why the Favre arc could work for Rodgers in Minnesota. He looks at what Kevin O'Connell has done in his first three years as Vikings coach and how seamlessly he's fit pieces into the offense. He sees the weapons that the Vikings would have available to Rodgers — imagine Rodgers going deep to Justin Jefferson. The things Allen wonders are whether Rodgers would let go of the reigns and if he has the same fire Favre did in 2009.

"The question would be is what is his drive left?" Allen said. "Like was does (Rodgers) want to do? I think that's the question. If this were to play out into fruition, (Vikings general manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and the coaching staff, (O'Connell) and the coaching staff would have to sit down with him and he'd have to give an honest assessment of how much passion do you have left for this game. Can you go out there and give it one more year? ... I think that would be the biggest question. As a fan, I think it's interesting, I think it's fun."

Allen also noted it would be important to consider what that would do for the mindset of J.J. McCarthy, whom the Vikings selected No. 10 overall in last year's draft to be their quarterback of the future. While McCarthy suffered a season-ending meniscus injury last season, he's expected to be ready to go this summer. But on the flip side, after a year of recovery and still no NFL football under his belt, Allen noted how you can't do much better for a mentor for McCarthy than Rodgers.

And historically, Rodgers has been pretty good under center.

"(O'Connell's) just been there nonstop, right at the top, right at the precipice, and it's like, 'What's that one missing piece that's gonna put us overboard?'" Allen said. "And I truly think it's a quarterback that can go out and win games on his own.

"We haven't had that since Brett Favre."

Most of the quarterback discussion this offseason has been whether to hand the reigns to McCarthy or bring back Sam Darnold, who put together the best season of his career last year but is due for a hefty raise this offseason. If Minnesota is handing out a bunch of money for a quarterback, Allen thinks the Vikings should give it to Rodgers over Darnold.

"If it's the same price and it's a one-year stopgap, I'm taking Aaron Rodgers," Allen said.

HOF'er Jared Allen would take Aaron Rodgers over Sam Darnold for the Vikings 👀🔊@heykayadams @Vikings | #Skol pic.twitter.com/9xMfGAiAe2
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) February 18, 2025

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