The New York Jets have been catching strays from all angles this season. This has ramped up even more since the latest report from the Athletic.
With a controversial quarterback and seemingly incompetent owner, emotions around the team are running high. One ESPN personality took things to new heights on Friday morning.
Appearing on “Unsportsmanlike” on ESPN Radio, reporter Dan Graziano ripped Aaron Rodgers so severely that he left his co-hosts speechless.
After former Jets linebacker Bart Scott said that the Jets “have to restore order in that building”, Graziano went on a rant for the ages about the Jets, specifically targeting Rodgers.
“If the effect of this story is that the organization decides that, ‘Well, it could be worse, Aaron Rodgers isn’t so bad, because look at all this other goofiness that’s going on above him,’ then the Jets are in bigger trouble than I thought. Because Aaron Rodgers is a con-artist, he is a narcissist, he is self absorbed to the absolute maximum. And if he has you fooled… again… that’s on you.”
Continuing, Graziano said, “If the Jets go back to Aaron Rodgers next year, they deserve what they get. And it will not be good. They know this. They’ve lived it for the last two years. This is not the answer. If some team wants to do that, too bad for them, but if the team that it just happened to wants it to happen to them again? Then there’s no fixing that, that’s just dumb.”
Rodgers has always been a divisive figure, but never more so than since he’s joined the Jets, ranging from calling reporters out on the Pat McAfee Show to saying the team is cursed because he couldn’t win with them.
At the end of the day, Rodgers’ poor play has not helped him. He ranks 21st in the NFL in QBR (53.7), trailing the likes of Jameis Winston, who was just benched this week, Pats rookie Drake Maye, and beleaguered Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence. Has he been better the past few weeks? Sure, but not enough to justify how bad he’s been the rest of the season.
Rodgers is a 41-year-old quarterback. Regardless of his off-the-field stuff, whether you love it or hate it, Rodgers isn’t the same player on the field. He hasn’t been a top-20 QB in the league since he won the MVP in 2021, which will be four seasons ago by opening kickoff in 2025.
Graziano is as harsh as can possibly be here. But perhaps he’s right. If the Jets bring back a QB over the age of 40 who’s let the team down already, made their circus even worse, and would have major salary cap ramifications for years to come, maybe they really are “just dumb.”
