Three New York Jets Superstars Highlight NFLPA Merchandise Rankings

Three New York Jets players were among the Top 50 players in merchandise sales for a sixth-month period leading up to the season.

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws the ball during the second quarter, Sunday, November 17, 2024, in East Rutherford. / Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Three New York Jets stars were among the Top 50 players in merchandise sales as ranked by the NFL Players Association in a list that was released earlier this week.

The rankings were based on sales of all officially-licensed NFL player products and merchandise from March 1 to Aug. 31 of 2024.

The rankings are on products from than 85 different NFLPA licensees and that include everything from trading cards, jerseys, and T-shirts to collectible figurines, framed photos and bobbleheads.

The three Jets players that made the Top 50 were quarterback Aaron Rodgers, cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

Rodgers was the highest-ranked Jet at No. 22. The future Hall-of-Famer has been among the top-selling players in terms of merchandise for years. Gardner and Wilson were back-to-back in the rankings at No. 32 and No. 33, respectively.

The top player on the list was Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The numbers are interesting, given that the data was collected before the start of the season, when optimism ran high around the Jets with the return of Rodgers from the torn Achilles that ended his 2023 season after New York’s first offensive possession.

The season got off to a good start for New York, as the Jets won two of their first three games and began to look like the team many thought had a chance to make the playoffs before the season.

But after a Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos, things started falling apart. A successive loss to Minnesota led team owner Woody Johnson to fire head coach Robert Saleh after more than three seasons and promote defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim head coach.

Johnson did so without consulting his general manager, Joe Douglas. That minimized Douglas' role in the organization and last week Johnson decided to fire Douglas as well, who had been the GM for nearly six seasons. Johnson reportedly flew into Florham Park on his helicopter that Tuesday and asked to see Douglas, which led to the firing.

Now Johnson must find a new general manager and a new head coach and has partnered with The 33rd Team to begin that search, a company led by former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

For the next several weeks New York will gather information on potential candidates for both jobs, with the belief that Johnson will hire a GM before he and the GM collaborate and hiring a head coach.