Yes, it’s bowl game season, which makes it a great time for a mock draft. But we’re not yet focusing on the bowl games in this particular forum — we’ll do that soon. What it’s time to do in our mock draft exercises is to speculate about a possible league-altering trade that may or may not actually happen. Fun!
In this case, we are sending Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets under the following conditions:
The Green Bay Packers traded Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets for the Jets’ first- and second-round picks in 2023, their first- and second-round picks in 2024, and their first-round pick in 2025.
That gives the Packers the 15th and 46th picks from the Jets in the 2023 draft if it were held today, as well as their own 17th and 48th picks. You can do a lot of roster-building with four picks in the top 50, and let’s say it’s time to give Jordan Love command of Green Bay’s offense. 2022 marks the end of Love’s third NFL season, and he’s mostly lined the bench behind one of the NFL’s all-time greats. That’s what happened to Rodgers from 2005-2007, when he obviously played behind Brett Favre… and then, the Packers pulled the trigger on the succession plan. The shot-callers are different now, but let’s just say the same thing happens again.
This puts the Jets in a very good place in 2023 and beyond, lost draft picks aside. Rodgers moves from one LaFleur (Packers head coach Matt) to another LaFleur (Jets offensive coordinator Mike), and when you consider what the Jets have been able to make of Mike White, adding Aaron Rodgers to a team that already has an amazing defense and a more-than-functional offense would be off the hook.
Per OverTheCap.com, the Jets will enter the 2023 league year with $15,275,349 in cap space, but there are some moves they can make to get in the realm of Rodgers’ 2023 cap hit of $31,623,570 based on a trade.
So, with that major move completed, here’s how the first round of the 2023 NFL draft might go were it to be conducted today.
(Note: The Miami Dolphins, who would have had the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 draft were it held today, forfeited that pick as part of their punishment for tampering).
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