Joe Douglas Talks Trade Compensation, Excitement for Aaron Rodgers' Arrival
The moment was cause for celebration.
When the New York Jets finally landed quarterback Aaron Rodgers, team brass reacted like it had just acquired a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player.
"Excitement, obviously, a lot of joy," said general manager Joe Douglas at his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday. "There were some high fives and hugs and a lot of excitement."
Still, Douglas wasn't willing to declare Gang Green a Super Bowl contender just yet.
"Adding a player of his caliber is a big thing, but ultimately, we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we need to go," said Douglas. "The biggest thing in front of us right now is this year’s draft and it’s a great opportunity to add young dynamic play makers to this roster."
After agreeing to a trade compensation package for Rodgers, the Jets will have five opportunities to add "playmakers" from the 2023 NFL Draft pool. Gang Green will pick once in Rounds 1, 2 and 4 before taking two turns in Round 5.
As for the amount of draft capital required to complete the deal with Green Bay, critics claim the Jets surrendered too much.
“We’re comfortable with how this deal is shaped,” said Douglas. “I don’t think anyone ever walks away from a negotiation where you feel like you won everything in terms of what’s gone back and forth."
The key piece to the trade deal is a 2024 conditional selection from the Jets. It's currently a second-rounder, but will jump up to a Round 1 pick if Rodgers plays 65 percent of New York's offensive snaps in 2023.
Should Rodgers come close to matching his past performance while quarterbacking the Jets, that 2024 draft pick will be slotted in the bottom third of Round 1.
"Aaron is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play this game," said Douglas.
Rodgers, a likely first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, currently stands 945 passing yards shy of the 60K career milestone. He ranks ninth overall on the NFL's all-time passing list (59,055 yards). Rodgers' 475 touchdowns passes are the fifth most in league history and fourth place (Brett Favre - 508) is within reach.
After capturing back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021, Rodgers had a bit of a "down" year, statistically, in 2022. His 6.8 yards per pass attempt was the second-lowest mark since becoming Green Bay's full-time starter in 2008.
Douglas, however, didn't sound concerned about Rodgers' ability moving forward.
"He’s not very far removed from back-to-back MVP’s," said Douglas. "You still have someone that maybe didn’t play at 100 percent throughout the year, but still performed at a high level."
Rodgers accounted for a 64.6 completion percentage while throwing for 26 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last season. Meanwhile, four Jets’ quarterbacks combined for 14 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions and a 56.98 completion percentage in 2022.
When it comes to Rodgers getting acclimated in his new home, Douglas suggested that the quarterback's existing relationship with Jets' offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will help ease the transition.
"He’s going to be able to come in here and his relationship with Nathaniel (Hackett), his relationship with some of the other players that are on the team," said Douglas. Obviously, it’s an adjustment when you’re somewhere for 18 years, but we feel like with the people that we have in place, he can get comfortable quickly."
In three seasons working with Hackett, who served as the Packers' OC from 2019-21, Rodgers threw 111 touchdown passes to only 13 interceptions and Green Bay averaged 13 regular season wins per year.
"Ultimately, our goal from the beginning was to add Aaron to the team and we were able to get that, agreed to terms to that yesterday and just excited to get him here ASAP," said Douglas.
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