Aaron Rodgers says he wants to leave Packers & play for the Jets
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WMTV) – One year ago today, then-reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers revealed he would return to Green Bay.
But, this is 2023, and with a new year comes a new answer. The future Hall-of-Famer wants to trade his Green-and-Gold for green and white and headed to New York. On Wednesday, after weeks of speculation, Rodgers went onto the Pat McAfee Show, where he said his plan since Friday has been to play for the New York Jets. He added that it’s now up to the teams to work out the compensation.
The statement could end three-months of fans being left in the dark – and Rodgers too, briefly – about who will be taking most of their team’s snaps next season. Would it be Rodgers coming back for his 15th year as a starter or would they learn to Love his designated successor?
A trade to the Jets would echo the move that made Rodgers the team’s future. It was after his third season in the league that then-Packers superstar quarterback Brett Favre retired, then un-retired, then was traded to… the Jets.
During Rodgers’ long reign leading the Packers offense, he brought home four Associated Press MVP Awards, including two of the last three, as well as a Vince Lombardi Trophy for the team’s Super Bowl XLV win.
Rodgers came to Green Bay in 2005 after being selected by the Packers in the first-round of that year’s draft. Over the next three seasons, Rodgers only made it into seven games before replacing Favre for the 2008 season. That year, Rodgers threw for 4,038 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Since taking over starting duties, the Packers have won nearly two-thirds of its games (147-75-1) in games he took the opening snap.
In 2010, the Packers posted a 10-6 record and squeaked into the playoffs as a sixth seed. Being the bottom seed that year only made the march to their first Super Bowl crown in 14 seasons all that more dramatic.
The next year, the Packers kicked off the season with a 13-game winning streak, on their way to a 15-1 record and Rodgers’ first MVP. He also won the award in 2014, 2020, and 2021.
Last season did not end as well for the Packers, who posted an 8-9 record, which was only the second time since Rodgers took over that they finished with a sub-500 record. Their final game loss to the Lions knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs, ending their season and beginning their off-season drama.
In late January, word started to emerge that Rodgers would be open to playing next year and the Packers front office would be open to playing without him. From there, fans were left wondering if they would see #12 again and how backup Jordan Love would do as a starter.
In those weeks, Rodgers won another championship, just not in football. Teaming up with Ben Silverman, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February. The past six weeks also included Rodgers’ now-famous darkness retreat, in Oregon. Sky Cave Retreats owner Scott Berman told ESPN that Rodgers spent time his Oregon retreat in a 300-square-foot room that was “devoid of light.”
On his way into the darkness, Rodgers was ready to turn out the lights on his career too. The 18-year veteran explained he was 90% sure he was ready to retire. His mood shifted and he came out ready to play. However, he sensed a change in the Green Bay front office.
Things started heating up last week with word of the Jets interest and rumors that Rodgers himself had spoken to the team. They reached a boiling point Tuesday when the Jets reportedly nabbed Allen Lazard, one of Rodgers’ targets in Green Bay, and were looking to sign another one.
The next day, the NFL and fans got their answer.
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