New Aaron Rodgers Report Refutes Rumor About QB Begging Jets To Keep Him

So, what's the truth?

Jan 5, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walks on the field after the Jets win over the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

So, how did things really go down between Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets?

Well, we thought we knew -- but now we don't.

During a recent in-person meeting, the Jets informed Rodgers of their plan to release/trade him this offseason if he doesn't retire. In a follow-up report, Steve Helling and Ryan Dunleavy claimed that Rodgers pleaded with the Jets to keep him around for one more season.

"Concerned that his career could end with a whimper, Rodgers, 41, aggressively urged the Jets to stick with him for another season or two over the course of multiple conversations last week, a well-placed source told The Post," Helling and Dunleavy wrote. "When the Jets decided to move on anyway, Rodgers accepted his fate 'like a man going to the gallows,' the source said, and slipped into the darkness for a few days."

That brings us to Thursday, when Dianna Russini of The Athletic shared a conflicting version of the Rodgers-Jets conversation.

“I refuse to do the source-off and dig on who is saying what because I just went through it for two years with the Jets with so much of my reporting because it comes with a lot of heat,” Russini said during a "Rich Eisen Show" appearance. “I’ll just go with what I know, and nobody had shared with me that Rodgers was begging to stay a New York Jet.

“In fact, this entire time, I knew that Aaron Rodgers wanted his time in New York to come to an end as well. He knew this chapter was over a while ago."

At the end of the day, all that matters is where the Jets go from here. If Rodgers decides to continue his career, he'll do so for another team.

New York owns the seventh pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, potentially putting it in a position to target its next franchise quarterback. The Jets also could pursue a veteran in free agency or on the trade market.

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