While it remains unknown if quarterback Aaron Rodgers will look to continue playing through at least the 2025 season, reports surfaced on Sunday claiming that the recently-hired New York Jets regime will move on from the future Hall of Famer this offseason.
For a piece published Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated revealed that “there are teams that think [Rodgers] has bullets left in the chamber” if he decides to give it a go with a different club later this year.
“I thought mentally, and arm-talent-wise, he was still high-end,” an NFC pro director recently texted Breer about Rodgers. “The [Jets’ two offensive] tackles weren’t very good, so any time he had to move in the pocket, he struggled. Not sure if that gets better in year two after the injury or worse with age.”
That pro director was referencing the torn Achilles Rodgers suffered in September 2023 that essentially cost him that entire season and seemed to affect him early into the 2024 campaign. Before that setback, Rodgers played with a broken thumb on his throwing hand in the fall of 2022 and then injured his ribs later that season. More recently, he was slowed by injuries to both his knees, a low ankle sprain and a hamstring issue during what seemingly will be his final campaign as a member of the Jets.
According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers ended this past regular season ranked 31st in the NFL with a 48.1 adjusted QBR, tied for 21st with a 90.5 passer rating, eighth with 3,897 passing yards and tied for seventh with 28 passing touchdowns.
“I bet he doesn’t,” one unnamed agent said about Rodgers possibly playing another season during a chat with Mike Sando of The Athletic. “He won’t want the teams that will want him.”
Specifically, Rodgers has been linked with the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants. Some previously thought the San Francisco 49ers could give the 41-year-old a call this winter, but it appears they are ready to lock Brock Purdy down via a contract extension.
“A team executive noted that Rodgers can ‘definitely’ still play well enough to upgrade teams on the field, but smart team builders will struggle with adding everything else that comes along with Rodgers,” Sando added.
Rodgers routinely generates headlines with comments he makes during interviews, and he seemingly upset some with the Jets when he skipped the club’s two-day mandatory minicamp this past June because of “a pre-planned trip to Egypt.” Perhaps no head coach will want to deal with the headaches Rodgers has been known to cause if he truly is a shell of his all-time great self at this point of his life.
