'50 TD Passes' and 'Great Things' — Three NFL MVP Quarterbacks Offer Predictions on Aaron Rodgers

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Boomer Esiason opine on the Jets' new field general

Three retired Super Bowl quarterbacks have weighed in on the new-look New York Jets led by future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers this offseason.

Like Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Boomer Esiason all won the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award during their playing days. All three also eventually moved on from the franchises that drafted them and ended their careers with different teams.

Manning and Brady were extremely successful during their second stops, both winning Super Bowls. Esiason, however, who landed with the Jets in 1993 after spending nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, had a somewhat forgettable tenure with Gang Green.

Rodgers is hoping the experience a fate similar to that of Manning and Brady, who both won the Super Bowl while quarterbacking two different organizations, and the retired superstars think that the 39-year old can do it.

“Let me tell you why I think it's going to work,” said Manning during a springtime appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “ The fact that he has the same system that he ran in Green Bay with [Nathaniel] Hackett calling the plays, he's going to be able to play so much faster.”

Manning suggested that Rodgers will hit the ground running come September.

“Having to learn a new offense in your 18th, 19th year, it's almost impossible, because you have to un-learn your old offense. The fact that Aaron doesn't have to learn a new offense, a new snap count, a new formation, he's going to play fast. I see him playing well early next year, and it should be fun to watch,” said Manning, who ended his 18-year career in 2016 after winning Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos.

"I'm excited for Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets..

The fact that he has the same system that he had in Green Bay is huge" ~ Peyton Manning#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sTrnpJexiR

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 2, 2023

The freshly-retired Brady, who faced Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers last September, joined Sports Illustrated’s Robin Lundberg for an exclusive interview earlier this month. Now that the Jets have a four-time NFL MVP taking the snaps, Brady sounded bullish on their chances in 2023.

“They’ve made a big commitment to him and I’m sure he’s gonna wanna go out there and prove them right,” said Brady, who won seven Super Bowls in his career. “It’s tough competition, but it’s always tough to bet against Aaron Rodgers, too — how prolific he is as a passer, he’s been a winner.”

Brady, who finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after winning six world championships as the New England Patriots’ franchise quarterback, drew a parallel between himself and Rodgers. 

“It’s a great opportunity, just like I felt like I had in Tampa when I went there and I was throwing balls to Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] and Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] came,” said Brady. “He’s going there to New York with other very talented players at the receiver position. I think he’s going to be very invigorated. I’m certain he’s going to do a great job.”

Esiason, now a media maven, went a step further. The former Cincinnati Bengals’ second-round draft pick dropped a scalding hot take during his morning drivetime radio show Boomer and Gio.

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“I’m thinking, if Aaron Rodgers stays healthy, he’s gonna have 50 touchdown passes this season, minimum,” said Esiason, who led the Bengals to a Super Bowl XXIII appearance. “He may set the touchdown pass record this year. I’m telling you.”

The basis for Esiason’s optimism stems from the idea that Rodgers and Hackett are highly motivated heading into the 2023 season with their new team. The former seemed somewhat miffed by his departure from Green Bay while the latter failed to last the entire 2022 campaign as the Denver Broncos’ head coach.

“You got a quarterback that has a major chip on his shoulder, you have an offensive coordinator who has to have a major chip on his shoulder,” said Esiason. “Just because of the way he left Green Bay, the fact that Hackett got fired in Denver and couldn’t handle Russell Wilson. Think about these two guys coming together.”

It is worth noting that Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards while working with Hackett in 2020 and 2021. Over the three years that Rodgers’s and Hackett’s careers coincided, the Packers notched 39 regular season wins.

It was Brady and the Bucs who stopped the Packers in the 2020 NFC Championship Game before going on to win Super Bowl LV.

“He’s gonna do great things,” said Brady. “He’s an amazing player, extremely talented and he’s been prolific basically every season. He’s one of the great quarterbacks to ever play the game.”

Like Esiason, Brady hinted that the motivation factor could help Rodgers succeed at the stiff challenge that awaits.

“Ultimately, the internal motivation is the one that’s probably more sustainable and he’s got that,” said Brady. “He waited behind one of the all-time greats in Brett. He went to junior college, then he went to Cal. He really had to prove himself the whole way and I think that's part of his mentality.”

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