Is the stage set for Aaron Rodgers to pull a Favre and join the Vikings next year?

To be clear, we don't actually think this is happening, but are you really gonna rule it out?

Could Aaron Rodgers follow in Brett Favre's footsteps and join the Vikings next year? / All photos via Imagn Images

The New York Jets fired general manager Joe Douglas on Tuesday, six weeks after they fired head coach Robert Saleh. They'll have a completely new regime in place in 2025, which likely means Aaron Rodgers won't be back as their quarterback.

If Rodgers wants to keep playing, and if he and the Jets mutually decide to part ways, where might the four-time MVP end up? How about the contending team whose only quarterback under contract next season will be a second-year player without an NFL pass attempt to his name?

Yes, on paper, the stage might just be set for Rodgers to follow the Brett Favre career path and join the Minnesota Vikings next year.

Now, to be clear, we don't actually think that's going to happen. The Vikings appear ready to hand over the keys to J.J. McCarthy in the spring, and they may not want to wait until the third year of the Michigan product's rookie contract to see him on the field. In all likelihood, 2025 is when Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings find out what they have in McCarthy — and potentially jam their Super Bowl window wide open if he's the real deal.

But are you really going to rule out the Rodgers possibility, even if it's a slight one? Think about it...

Imagine Rodgers, for one last ride, operating O'Connell's offense and throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson behind an offensive line that will get Christian Darrisaw back from injury. The Vikings could bring back his buddy Aaron Jones on another one-year deal to play running back. Maybe they even find a way to get Davante Adams. Paired with Brian Flores' dominant defense, that team would be awfully hard to beat, as long as Rodgers can still play.

This year with the Jets (current record: 3-8) hasn't gone to plan for Rodgers, who turns 41 years old in a couple weeks. But he still has 17 touchdown passes, a very solid 75.9 PFF grade, and 18 big-time throws (tied for fourth-most in the league) in his first year following an Achilles injury. He's not that far removed from winning back-to-back league MVPs in 2020 and '21.

Rodgers has one year left on his contract with a base salary of just $2.5 million. The Jets will have to eat a ton of dead signing bonus money if he isn't their quarterback next year, but that's not going to stop them from cutting or trading him and moving into a rebuild.

What if the Vikings get Rodgers, go win a Super Bowl, and then hand things over to McCarthy — who will have just gotten to learn from one of the best QBs to ever play — a year later? The plan nearly worked with Favre in 2009, minus the young QB waiting in the wings.

Once again, there's probably very, very little chance of this actually taking place. But that's what we would've said in 2008 about the Favre idea, too!

👀

Vikings have one QB under contract for 2025 and he has never played a down of regular-season NFL football. It's happening. 😏 https://t.co/9lydsz02Vr

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 19, 2024

We are way closer to Aaron Rodgers the Minnesota Viking than I think people realize. The scenario is actually crazy possible.

JJ McCarthy is the Vikings future QB, but he just had to have a second surgery on his knee... not ideal and he would be inheriting a very good team as a…

— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) November 19, 2024