Scooped up by the New York Jets in 2023 after 18 seasons in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be the man to lead the Jets out of their trenches. Make no mistake—this franchise was not just trying to end their playoff drought that has since been extended to 14 seasons. (Longest in all American sports). They were trying to rediscover their Super Bowl glory days that date back to the years of Joe Namath and the 1968 season. However, they should have known the QB they were getting was already past his prime.

See, Rodgers was already 39 when he moved to East Rutherford. His age was always going to be a factor in his time with the Jets. Like the organization themselves only gave Rodgers a 3-year contract. Judging by that number, you could already guess he wasn’t a long-term solution to the Jets’ QB woes. All they wanted from the 4-time NFL MVP was to give them some sort of consistency under center. But neither did he manage to play the length of his contract. Nor did Rodgers give the Jets what they wanted. It was just a mess from the get go and concluded the same way.

As pointed out by ex-Jets offensive guard Damien Woody, “For most of the season, he wasn’t playing. I know some of it was due to injuries. He just wasn’t seeing the field well. The accuracy wasn’t there, so he is a diminished quarterback.” Yes, you could argue Rodgers played all 17 games and also threw 28 TDs with over 3,800 passing yards. But if you look closely, his numbers never really speak about the lack of spark he gave from his QB plays. He was average at the best.

Rodgers threw a whopping 11 INTs. Like he even had a game against the Vikings where he threw a career-high 3 INTs, including a pick-6. And talking about being diminished, this was a trend that continued from his last season with Green Bay. He left Lambeau throwing 12 INTs, one more than he did with the Jets in his only full season. So, the writing was already on the wall. It’s just that the Jets didn’t see it.

But thankfully, Rodgers’ exit at least bore them one good news: A frustrated figure from the offense will probably stay, citing Rodgers’ departure. As for the 41-year-old, it’s not he may not find a club after his horrendous Jets chapter. Tom Brady’s Raiders might be the next destination, or probably his last.

Aaron Rodgers to Vegas might help the Jets to keep hold of Garrett Wilson

Whatever may have happened in New York can’t take away Rodgers’ 20 years of experience under center. Well, the future Hall of Famer could still offer something if given a final chance to prove himself before calling it quits. So, maybe that’s why the Raiders have popped up with an interest to bring the veteran signal-caller into their rebuild. See, the Raiders are also looking for a QB after the failure of both Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell. Yes, the Las Vegas team has a No.6 overall pick they could use to draft a QB. However, they can’t expect him to get going right from the beginning. Like there are still some major holes to fill up in the Raiders roster.

Top Comment by BigAssMexican28G

Some organizations are just snake bitten. The Jets could of had Mahomes at QB and still win 4 games. Jets...more

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That’s why CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin believes Aaron Rodgers could be an excellent short-term option. “Rodgers’ presence, poise and production could help Pete Carroll jump-start the team while searching for a long-term solution at the position.” Well, you can’t really take away the fact that Rodgers did stack numbers in 2024. For someone who is 41, playing all 17 games, having a QBR over 90 is never really a given, at least in this league. And who knows, maybe he could actually help the Raiders for a season or two before saying enough is enough.

Considering everything, all could end well for Rodgers. And Jets’ receiver, Garrett Wilson, was probably the happiest man to hear Rodgers wasn’t coming back. As ESPN’s Rich Cimini points out, “Rodgers’ departure greatly increases the chances of Garrett Wilson’s return. It became obvious to some players last season that Rodgers was favoring Adams over Wilson in the passing game.” Out of the 11 games the trio played together, Rodgers targeted his best friend 112 times, while Wilson was limited to 87. So, there was some clear favoritism going on that Wilson didn’t like.

However, it still didn’t stop Wilson from recording his third straight 1000-yard season. And with the exit of Rodgers, there’s no way the Jets would like to let go of someone who clearly has more room to grow in years to come.