Aaron Rodgers added fuel to the New York Jets fire
Rumors are heating up about Aaron Rodgers potentially heading to the New York Jets. It’s appearing increasingly possible that the Packers may consider trading Rodgers, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes the Packers would trade him to the AFC. Meanwhile, NBC’s Peter King believes the Jets and owner Woody Johnson would be willing to pay the price to get Rodgers.
Update: The #Packers will not be trading Aaron Rodgers within the NFC Conference.
They "will explore" the idea of trading the QB exclusively to the AFC, per @AdamSchefter pic.twitter.com/RJef7DGNSB
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 24, 2023
From Peter King:
"As for the compensation due Green Bay, my guess is the Pack would want at least two first-round picks. The Woody Johnson Jets, desperate for a star QB almost since the Broadway Joe days, would happily pay that freight, I’d guess." https://t.co/HDQaretlWy
— Wendell Ferreira (@wendellfp) January 23, 2023
Rodgers made his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, and he openly discussed his thoughts on the New York Jets. Rodgers discussed quarterback Zach Wilson and raved about the Jets’ offensive weapons.
Aaron Rodgers talking about Zach Wilson and the #Jets weapons👀 pic.twitter.com/wqhzZTIbBd
— Cool Your Jets (@CYJpod) January 24, 2023
Rodgers recalled facing the Jets in a joint practice in 2021 and thinking their offense “literally had no players”. He then praised the Jets for the substantial improvements they made to their offensive roster in 2022.
“They added a young receiver from, Ohio State is it? And got a tight end from the Bengals, I believe. They picked a running back, right, who was pretty damn good last year.”
Jets fans know Rodgers is referring to Garrett Wilson, C.J. Uzomah, and Breece Hall.
Rodgers also spoke at length about Zach Wilson and how he can improve.
“For him, it’s just going to be humility. Can he lean into that? And then just consistently working on the fundamentals. I think he’s so talented, but the best in the business can make all the plays outside the pocket, can move around, but fundamentally inside the pocket, especially the two guys on the AFC side [Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes], you got guys who can really play in the pocket, and then also extend and make plays out of the pocket. But inside the pocket, that’s where you beat teams.”
Rodgers talked about some advice he had given to Wilson in the past. He recalled a night during Wilson’s rookie year when he advised Wilson not to stay so late working at the practice facility.
“He was [at the facility] late, and I said, ‘What are you doing?’, I said, ‘Get out of the facility. Get out of there, clear your head, be a kid, go to dinner. Relax a little bit.'”
Perhaps Wilson will soon get the chance to learn from Rodgers up close and personal on a day-to-day basis.
Recently, the Rodgers-to-New York buzz heated up even more when the Jets interviewed Rodgers’ former offensive coordinator with the Packers, Nathaniel Hackett, for their vacant offensive coordinator position.
Things are getting interesting, to say the least.