The long national nightmare is over. Aaron Rodgers has made his decision.
After 15 seasons as the Green Bay Packers starter, the quarterback is set to be traded to the New York Jets. He confirmed as much on Wednesday afternoon, although the teams have not yet agreed on the terms of the deal.
It was typical of Rodgers to make everyone wait, to have everyone hanging on his word. But speaking on The Pat McAfee show, Rodgers unloaded on the Packers. They showed a lack of respect, he said. There was double talk. They didn’t give him – or his ex-teammates – dignity in their exits. He placed the blame for the impending divorce on the team’s new management structure. “I like direct communication,” he told McAfee. This, remember, from a man who entered four days of darkness with no phone service a few weeks before the start of free agency.
But this is Rodgers in his happy place. Grumpy. Indignant. Vindictive.
It sounds dopey, but the best-of-the-best find – or create – any sort of light to use as fuel. At the peak of his powers, Michael Jordan would call local pizza parlors so he could hear a local voice in his head while laying waste to opponents on the road. For the better part of 10 years, Rodgers used the fact that he went to a junior college and slipped down the 2005 draft to flatten a league that had doubted him.
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Overlooked. Dismissed. Doubted. That’s been the narrative that has powered Rodgers’ career.
“When I went into the darkness I was 90% sure I was retiring,” Rodgers told McAfee on Wednesday. “I sat one day in darkness contemplating that I was retired and one day that I was not.” When Rodgers left his retreat, he heard stories that the Packers were shopping him around the league, his story goes. Fresh doubts. More people to prove wrong.
In truth, Rodgers has probably never forgiven the Packers for drafting his replacement, Jordan Love, in 2020. No matter that Rodgers has lived through this before. Back in the Brett Favre days, he was in Love’s shoes: the organization was itching to move on to the young guy as the old hand continued to hang around, forcing the team into an annual soap opera.
Anger turned to resentment – on both sides. The Packers have made it clear that this is not Rodgers’ choice. They’re the ones ready to move on, they claim. They’re done with the headaches and the melodrama. They want to give Love a chance. He’s the future.
Divorces do not typically have a single inciting incident. People tend to get tired of each other, the little things add up – the way they brush their teeth; the dishes stacked up in the sink. Over the years, the Packers have grown weary of Rodgers’ antics. There’s always something: the ayahuasca, the darkness, asking teammates whether they thought 9-11 was an inside job, being immunized v vaccinated, holding on to over-the-hill players because they’re buddies with the quarterback. Even when Rodgers was the reigning back-to-back MVP, the Packers entertained trade offers, before making him the richest quarterback in the league.
But Rodgers was fed up, too. Fed up with looking over his shoulder at the player the organization really wanted to build around. Fed up with the team trying to straddle two worlds: preparing for his departure while trying to put together a competitive roster for one final shot at a championship. “This conversation would have happened a lot sooner if I didn’t win back-to-back MVPs,” Rodgers said on Wednesday.
It’s a break-up that’s best for both sides. Moving on from a face-of-the-franchise-type star too early hurts, but not nearly as bad as waiting too long. Ask the Saints. Or the Steelers. Or the Giants. In moving on from Rodgers, the Packers have ripped the Band-Aid off early.
Rodgers will head to New York – for now. Who knows for how long he will play? A year? Two? Six weeks? Six hours? None? With Rodgers, anything is possible. We’ve never had a quarterback enter the Tyson Zone. There is no pop-up notification that could ding on your phone right now that you would not believe. Rodgers announces candidacy for Senate! Rodgers to host a six-part series: Aaron’s Conspiracy Hour! Rodgers to experiment with ‘live burial’ therapy! Rodgers aiming to play until 60, considering body transplant!
The Jets will live through the inevitable storms for a shot at winning it all. Rodgers immediately became the best quarterback in franchise history. His powers may be dwindling, but even as he approaches 40, Rodgers remains capable of pushing a talented Jets core into championship contention.
It’s fair to wonder how much this version of Rodgers tips their championship odds, though. Rodgers is trading in the lackluster NFC for a loaded AFC. He went from being one of the best quarterbacks in his conference to the second-best in his division. How many quarterbacks in the AFC would you take ahead of Rodgers right now? Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen are sure things. What about Justin Herbert? Lamar Jackson (depending on where he’s playing)? Trevor Lawrence if he continues to improve? Peak Rodgers sits on the top shelf alongside the Big Three. The Rodgers of 2022 probably sits somewhere in the six-to-nine range.
For the Jets, that should be enough. If they had even average quarterback play last season, they would have given the Bills a race in the AFC East. They have one of the most talent-laden defenses in the NFL. On offense, they’re filled with young stars desperate for a competent quarterback. Now, the team is close to acquiring a four-time MVP with a point to prove and a huge chip on his shoulder.
The move will reunite Rodgers with Nathaniel Hackett – the Rodgers whisperer. Hackett was the offensive coordinator who helped bridge the gap between Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and Rodgers. With Hackett playing the role of middle-man, he pushed Rodgers into buying LaFleur’s system, turning the off-script artist into someone willing to embrace the structure. Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs hitting all the open throws in the offense and creating two or three moments of magic a game – rather than trying to put the team on his back on every given play.
Last season, with Hackett flailing in Denver, Rodgers reverted to his worst instincts. The Packers’ offense flatlined.
Rodgers was one problem among many, but he was a problem. He has oscillated wildly between someone who wants to play within the system and someone indulging his hero-ball tendencies. When the Packers’ offense devolved into Rodgers v the world, it sputtered. What were once features of his game became flaws. By the season’s end, he ranked 25th among eligible quarterbacks on throws of 20-yards or more, an area where he typically outpaces the field.
Defenders will point to a thumb injury. Detractors will point to the aging process of quarterbacks. Rodgers will soon be 40. When quarterbacks go downhill, they go downhill fast. Their arm strength vanishes from one season to the next. Matt Ryan was an above-average starter in 2021; by 2022 he was struggling to get the ball 10 yards down the field. A drop in deep-ball accuracy is typically the first sign that The End Times are near.
But Rodgers isn’t just any quarterback. There were signs of the player Rodgers could become in his 40s last year. When the ball came out quickly, when he operated the offense rather than freelancing, the Packers’ offense still worked.
It’s a question only Rodgers can answer: is he willing to adapt? Rodgers hasn’t been a rhythm-based, Tom Brady-like thrower for the bulk of his career. At his best, he’s been an off-script savant, someone who conjures offense when it seems like there shouldn’t be any. That’s been his magic, but as his legs start to fade and his arm deteriorates, he will need to adjust.
The Jets are all set to win. They have the defense. They have the weapons on offense. They have a savvy coaching staff. They have the assets to add even more pieces between now and the start of the season. If Rodgers is willing to accept the player he is today rather than the one he once was, then they should be a contender in the AFC. If he doesn’t? Gulp.
By adding a soon-to-be 40-year-old, the Jets have shifted their championship window from five years to – perhaps – 24 months. They’re also welcoming the tumult that follows Rodgers everywhere.
If things get off to a slow start, how long before the pouting and finger-pointing and blame-shifting and threats of retirement envelope the building? The New York media are not the beast they were 20 years ago, but they won’t be as accommodating as hometown reporters in Green Bay.
Rodgers’ latest strop-fest is over – for now. See you in 12 months.