When the New York Jets first traded for Aaron Rodgers ahead of the 2023 NFL season, there was a great deal of optimism in and around the organization. After going 7-10 in 2022, many believed that the addition of a four-time NFL MVP quarterback would help them end their decade-plus postseason drought and, maybe, help them reach the Super Bowl.
But that did not happen. Instead, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer tore his Achilles in Week One and New York clawed its way to another 7-10 record. While there was renewed hope that a healthy, albeit older, Rodgers could still lead the Jets to the postseason, it soon became clear that the team had too many issues to allow that to happen, and one team insider believes many of these can be blamed on the quarterback himself.
New York Jets Insider Goes Off on Aaron Rodgers Following His Pat McAfee Appearance
In 2024, the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh after starting 2-3. Weeks later, as the team continued to lose games, they fired their general manager, Joe Douglas. Despite these drastic changes, New York stumbled to a 5-12 record.
One of the only constant factors throughout all their struggles last season was Rodgers. And Jets insider Zack Rosenblatt believes that many of these issues stemmed from the quarterback himself.
In his recent article posted on The Athletic, Rosenblatt wrote:
“Glenn had no interest in being in the Aaron Rodgers business, and it’s hard to blame him. If anything, the way Rodgers has handled the aftermath, specifically Thursday’s interview with McAfee, proved the Jets made the right decision.
“Think about the start of the Rodgers-Jets marriage.
“In 2023, the Jets flew to Malibu with a contingent of key decision makers to convince him to play for them. They hired Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator and overpaid Allen Lazard in free agency to make Rodgers more comfortable. After the trade was completed, Rodgers gave some salary back to help the Jets sign some more of his friends, or players he wanted to play with — Randall Cobb, Dalvin Cook, Billy Turner, Tim Boyle among them.
“None of those signings worked out. For a time, other GMs around the league mockingly referred to then-Jets general manager Joe Douglas as the team’s assistant GM. The joke: Rodgers was really the one calling the shots.
“Rodgers promised the Jets the world. Instead, he gave them a world of distraction. In two years, he made more headlines for his media appearances than for his play on the field.
“For two seasons, Rodgers was a walking distraction. The Jets never deterred him from making appearances on McAfee’s show, even as he used that platform to call out teammates, spew conspiracy theories and just generally cause a stir … only for Rodgers to later decry the Jets organization for having so many non-football distractions.”
Indeed, many of Rosenblatt’s claims sound similar to the ones made by journalists who covered the Green Bay Packers during Rodgers’ latter years with the team. Simply put, the off-field interviews, insistence on having a say in front office moves, and his tendency to do whatever he wanted on the field despite whatever coaches said grew old very quickly.
When he was younger and more mobile, he got away with it and even won multiple MVP’s by doing things his way. He was that good. But at 41 years old, he is not the same quarterback, though he does have the same demands.
For a team that is looking to build a positive, team-oriented culture, there was no room for that anymore.