Warning: The start of this article may be tough to comprehend (through no fault of your own) …
Time is a flat circle—if Aaron Rodgers heads to Minnesota and the New York Jets draft a first-round quarterback this offseason, that is. He’d repeat the 2009 offseason that featured Brett Favre exiting Broadway for the Vikings, Rex Ryan’s introduction as head coach, and Mark Sanchez’s NFL christening.
The joke can be made thanks to FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer‘s monstrous Super Bowl Sunday report that the Jets have decided to “move on” from Rodgers.
It appears that the Aaron Rodgers project has concluded. One deflating Achilles injury, plenty of losses, and a boatload of appearances on “The Pat McAfee Show” produced a situation that closely resembles the 2009 offseason.
The only question now is, “Where do we even begin?”
The incredible number of angles one can take when dissecting this situation is absurd. Nah, scratch that: They’re infinite.
Before we dig even further, please accept my sincere apologies in advance. Not only do I waffle throughout the entirety of this article, but I do so in a flip-flopping, back-and-forth, up-and-down, putridly nauseating way.
Yes, it’s true. Sometimes, though, the toughest calls warrant the toughest evaluation and deepest thought, and this situation belongs precisely under that column.
Was this even Aaron Glenn’s decision?
The first topic to tackle when assessing this separation is pretty simple yet incredibly elusive: Was this even Aaron Glenn‘s decision?
Let’s not completely forget the reports that previously suggested a rift between Rodgers and Jets chairman Woody Johnson. While Johnson announced the Rodgers decision would be made by the next regime—ultimately turning out to be Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey—whether or not the football operations had full autonomy should be considered.
Next, did Glenn go into the meeting in good faith? Were he, Mougey, and Johnson all open to the possibility of a third Rodgers season?
If Glenn and Mougey met with Rodgers without any versatility or openness about keeping him, then I would label that a mistake. However, we simply do not know what transpired.
For all we know, despite the football world believing the Jets “parted ways” with Rodgers of their own accord, it may not have gone down that way at all. If Rodgers balked at anything on Glenn’s personal checklist, the Jets head coach made the right call by moving on from the future Hall of Famer.
Unfortunately, we cannot know what genuinely happened. Therefore, labeling this move as wholly foolish or the correct big-boy move is nearly impossible at this juncture.
Nonetheless, there’s still plenty to discuss, as it helps us clear up the extremely fuzzy screen.
There is a case to move on, but Aaron Rodgers isn’t washed
First and foremost, anybody who makes the claim that there’s no argument for moving on from Aaron Rodgers is just lying to themselves.
Yes, Rodgers is the target of unfair criticism in the “bad for culture and teammates” area. This is true. His polarized nature is born from factors that are both wholly out of control and self-inflicted.
Glenn’s desire to purge the organization of such a polarizing figure and media lightning rod is legitimate. While I wholeheartedly believe Rodgers would have been an asset and net-positive—had he fully bought in, taken a significant pay cut, and agreed to everything on Glenn’s organizational to-do list—there is something to be said for biting the dead-cap bullet as quickly as possible.
Jets X-Factor’s Rivka Boord put together a tremendous article outlining Rodgers’s financial situation. For me, the difference in money isn’t substantial enough to pay close to $50 million in dead cap to have a vacant quarterback position.
The Jets might feel the same way.
Even if Glenn and Mougey view the salary difference between an employed and unemployed Rodgers isn’t large enough, the timeframe is what looms largest. Starting the clock now by taking the dead cap hit as soon as possible is by far the most impactful issue.
Anybody who doesn’t understand that is just lost.
At the same time, was more at play in this decision? If so, this is where things get tricky.
There's been good, bad, pretty, and ugly with #New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers this year, but only a handful of quarterbacks today can even dream of replicating this play/throw.
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) January 3, 2025
Yes, there's an argument for wanting to move on from him, but the fervor I'm currently seeing from… pic.twitter.com/e1QRYZuQRu
Is this Bill Parcells-type attitude counterproductive?
Bill Parcells suggested the scouting department as Aaron Glenn’s first stop on his coaching journey. It’s universally known that Glenn loves Parcells and his principles, as he’s even called the Big Tuna the “greatest coach of all time.”
Though I’m nearly universally aligned with Parcells’s tried-and-tested fundamentals, many items simply don’t fit the modern NFL. One such example is Parcell’s belief in “not wanting a celebrity quarterback.”
It isn’t important whether Parcells truly believed in that hard stance. What is more critical is the idea that Glenn seemingly abides by it. (And by the way, how far Parcells traveled to protect his celebrity EDGE, Lawrence Taylor, sort of throws a monkey-wrench in this much-discussed principle, but I digress.)
ESPN’s Rich Cimini was quick to ask Glenn about Rodgers at the Jets’ introductory press conference earlier this month, but the freshman head coach quickly dismissed the question, citing the fact that he is not Parcells. Considering the price to keep Rodgers was only a tad steeper than moving on from him would be, it feels like Glenn is on board with some of those old-school Tuna principles.
At the end of the day, I genuinely believe in Glenn’s potential leadership attributes. But I also wholeheartedly think his coaching success will boil down to how flexible and versatile he is when conforming to the modern game.
Everything Parcells-esque simply won’t fly these days.
Holding strong to the “no celebrity quarterback” philosophy makes life in the modern league a rough place.
Perhaps most importantly, using previous stops as a template to recreate future success elsewhere is a recipe for disaster. Look no further than Robert Saleh, who wasn’t just committed to the Legion of Boom defensive scheme and Kyle Shanahan run-first scheme; he was married to it without a single thought of a prenup.
Hopefully Glenn isn’t viewing the Detroit Lions’ success of trading Matthew Stafford and rolling with Jared Goff en route to the Jets’ only path forward. It’s better if Mougey isn’t exclusively using the “bite the bullet” model the Denver Broncos used on Russell Wilson while believing that’s the only correct path in Northern New Jersey today.
No two situations are that similar.
It’s dangerous because Aaron Rodgers can still play
Unlike Goff, who has the best offensive line in the league and had a tremendous play-caller, Aaron Rodgers fought through horrendous coaching, no semblance of a rushing idea, brutal defensive play, and entire culture littered with a lack of accountability.
Despite many wanting to blame Rodgers for this mess, the entitlement plague on 1 Jets Drive began well before No. 8’s arrival. Malcontents such as Jamal Adams and Elijah Moore were just the beginning. Mekhi Becton, a freshly minted Super Bowl champion, added to the mess with his drama.
Even current Jet Garrett Wilson expressed a bit of regret when the Los Angeles Rams visited MetLife Stadium this past year, as he was quoted as saying that he probably “took Mike LaFleur for granted.”
The Jets’ cultural issues transparently pre-date Rodgers, and it’s not even up for debate. Similarly, the idea that Aaron Rodgers can still play this game is non-debatable.
Seriously, to produce his 2024 numbers while playing under the worst coaching I’ve ever seen, coupled with the fact that it was his first year back from an Achilles tear, is as underrated and overlooked as anything I’ve seen in football. The fact that he improved as the year progressed is yet another positive sign that he could have been a major asset for the franchise.
Aaron Rodgers is still extremely productive and, dare I say, sneakily near-elite. I care little about how old he is; this is the NFL in 2025, where physicality is thrown out of the window, and pat-a-cake reigns supreme.
Honestly, who’s the older player, Aaron Rodgers at 41 or Tyrod Taylor at 35? Based on each player’s historical availability and consistency, it’s tough to make the case that Rodgers is “older in the football world” than Taylor.
Yet, his age is a definite gamble. While I do not care about his age as much as the consensus does, it’s still undoubtedly a factor.
Therefore, wanting to tear off the Band-Aid this offseason is understandable.
Then again, he is, by far, the best option at the position for the 2025 season. Is he not? And are wins not the best way to establish and ultimately advance a football culture?
Oh dear, I’m now so incredibly lost after waffling more than your nearest Waffle House flipper.
Identify the emotions
I guess the only area I’m not lost in is this: Those who pretend this wasn’t a close call are simply beating their chests with way too much blind confidence and unidentified emotion.
In sports fandom, when things are bad, hope is essential. For Jets fans, when things are bad, yet another day has arrived.
With tomorrow—and hope firmly on the mind—a “fresh start” is required in the minds of all involved. And a fresh start simply cannot commence if Aaron Rodgers is on the roster. (Plus, in no world can a “rebuild” or even “slight reset” happen with Rodgers on the brain; gray is tough to spot in this black-and-white hot-take sports world.)
For many, it’s the emotional aspect that has taken hold. For others, a clear, objective measure has been taken en route to what they perceive as the correct path forward.
For the New York Jets, a franchise that hasn’t had a clue since the NFL began changing towards a much more offensive league, it takes a serious pair of brass balls to pay $50 million for an unemployed Aaron Rodgers as opposed to forking up a bit more via employment.
The only sure thing is that the New York Jets are officially Aaron Glenn’s team. That’s the real takeaway from this entire ordeal.
