Packer Central

Report: Rodgers ‘Is Open’ to Playing for Jets

The momentum is building for the Green Bay Packers to trade legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Citing sources, NFL insider Trey Wingo late Monday night said Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets “had conversations” earlier in the day.

“While nothing is imminent,” Wingo continued, “Rodgers is open to the idea of going to NY.”

The report was confirmed by The Athletic, which noted Rodgers has to decide whether he wants to play at all in 2023.

Those talks continued on Tuesday, according to ESPN.

Those conversations could only happen with permission from the Packers. That serves as another signal that the Packers are prepared to trade Rodgers and hand the offense to Jordan Love.

Whatever is going to happen with Rodgers – will he retire? Return to Green Bay? Be traded?” – it’s going to happen soon. The unofficial start to free agency is Monday, with the official kickoff coinciding with the start of the league-year next Wednesday.

Because of the enormity of Rodgers’ contract, the Packers will need to have a resolution before proceeding with the rest of their offseason plans. That’s a reality that Rodgers has acknowledged.

“For everybody involved directly and indirectly, it’s best for a decision earlier, and I feel really good about the conversations that are going to be had,” Rodgers said recently on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast.

“I’m not looking for somebody to tell me what the answer is. All the answers are right inside me, and I touched on many of them – and definitely the feelings on both sides – during the darkness, and I’m thankful for that time. There’s a finality to the decision, and I don’t make it lightly. I don’t want to drag anybody around.”

The Jets need to know, too. They’ve not hid their intentions at quarterback. If they can acquire Rodgers, they’ll become legitimate championship contenders given the talent on the rest of their roster. If not, they’ll have to pivot.

“Obviously, we're going to be exploring the veteran quarterback market this offseason and we're going to look at every available option,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said at the Scouting Combine. “We feel like when it's time to make the right decision when everybody goes through their process, we're going to make the best decision for the Jets.”

At the Scouting Combine, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear that he at least would listen to trade offers. Asked if he would consider trading Rodgers even if Rodgers wanted to return, Gutekunst said:

“Until we have those conversations, I think that’s pretty hypothetical. But, like I said, everything is on the table.”

On the news, the next-team odds for Rodgers shifted overnight – and then shifted again on Tuesday morning. In the initial update at BetOnline, where the next-team bet is dependent on Rodgers not returning to Green Bay, the Las Vegas Raiders remained the favorite but their odds moved from -175 to -170. The Jets moved from +100 to -110.

In the morning update, the Jets surged past the Raiders. Now, they are slight favorites at -125 to the Raiders’ -120. By implied probability, the Jets are 55.6 percent and the Raiders are 54.6 percent.

That the Raiders remain so strongly in the conversation is odd considering they’ve signaled they’re looking for more of a long-term solution at quarterback. Clearly, the oddsmakers think otherwise.

On Monday, Derek Carr signed with the New Orleans Saints. He had been an option for the Jets.

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The first-round case for Lukas Van Ness

“It’s a damned good year” to need a tight end

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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