The Jets and Aaron Rodgers - A Love Story
March 17th. Yes, today is St. Patrick’s Day. And while those who celebrate will pack the bars and pubs and sing and dance, other individuals, those who are in lockstep with the football community, may remember this an as anniversary of some sorts. Five years ago today, the New York Jets traded up for the number three draft selection in the 2018 NFL Draft where they selected Sam Darnold. There is no reason to revisit those tumultuous years for the sake of Jets fans reading this, but it is important to note for the rest this love story. Fast forward to now, and the Jets organization are on their third head coach (Bowles, Case, Saleh), their second general manager (Maccagnan, Douglas) and have been through a litany of starting quarterbacks (too many to name).
This past season saw gang green finish 7-10, but also had the rookie of the year on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. How rare is that? It has only happened twice since the Super Bowl era (1967 Detroit Lions, 2017 New Orleans Saints). One would think that two rookies of the year, coupled with players like Quinnen Williams, CJ Mosley, and DJ Reed amongst some others would have finished above .500. Alas, the Jets did not, and their playoff-less streak extended to a league leading twelve years. And the only saving grace for the Jets fan was that they did not have the longest playoff drought within the four major sports. Well, that is going to end - the NBA’s Sacramento Kings are currently 42-27 and will end their sixteen year long playoff drought. Once that officially happens, the Jets (and the Buffalo Sabres) will own the longest droughts in sports.
The AFC is currently loaded with quarterback talent. Led by two time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, the conference also boasts Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. How in the world would the Jets be able to compete with that? Even the legendary Mike White only lasted two games before his ribs seemed to burst through his chest. But all love stories aren’t so black and white, right? It’s not like the Jets have been chasing for their franchise QB since Joe Namath retired, right? I digress, but seriously, HOW WOULD THEY BE ABLE TO COMPETE? Simple - four walls and no lights.
Last off-season the NFL went through this whole charade with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, the two lynchpins or our sport for the better part of the past 15 years. Brady retired, then unretired, and Rodgers seemed to do everything under the sun before coming back. Both of these icons struggled this past season with Rodgers Green Bay Packers being eliminated from playoff contention in front of the entire country, at home, in Week 18 against the already eliminated Detroit Lions. Brady won another division title, although it was at an embarrassing 8-9 record, and the Bucs promptly got stomped on by the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round. Brady retired (again) and seemingly for good, while Rodgers noted he would take his time and talk to whoever he needed to, and take whatever drugs he needed to put him in the right “mental space”. But the Jets had been linked as a destination for a while if A-Rod would actually leave Green Bay. Things only grew when owner Woody Johnson said he would take whatever it took to get a QB to win some games. Even Douglas and Saleh admitted that a veteran presence was needed at the position - and no, not Joe Flacco.
The Jets had links though - to other free agent quarterbacks. Jimmy G for instance, played with Saleh while he was the defensive coordinator for San Francisco. Then the Jets brought Derek Carr in for a visit, where they told him he would be a hall of famer if he won in New York. The entire time though, Rodgers to the Jets had some sort of hope, some sort of glimmer. Kind of the like the girl or boy you watch from a distance and they have no idea how you really feel. And then the Jets hired the former disgraced Denver Broncos head coach Nathanial Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. His connection to Rodgers? Only the fact that he was his OC in Green Bay for a couple of NFC Championship appearances. He was also the OC for the Jacksonville Jaguars for their run in 2017 with Blake Bortles. But would that really lure Rodgers over to NYC?
Over the past couple of weeks, you couldn’t turn on a radio station in the city without the hosts talking about Rodgers and the Jets. It had already happened. They fell in love with the idea that this guy could come in and save them. But how many times have the Jets been burned before? The last time they got an aging Green Bay quarterback, he started off 9-2 only to get hurt and lose his last five games and miss the playoffs altogether. He then went to Minnesota the next year and took the Vikings to the NFC title game. His name shall remain nameless because we don’t want to take away the spotlight from Aaron.
His darkness retreat couldn’t have come at a better time (sarcasm, folks) as the other quarterbacks who would even sniff starting this year landed in other qb needy locations. So it’s Rodgers or bust for the Jets. They put their eggs all in one basket. He hadn’t said anything for more than a week after he came out of the box (literally), and then finally broke his silence where he said he had some things to say on the Pat McAfee show. He spoke about before going into the retreat, he was 90% retired. After he came out, his mind had changed. He stated his intentions to play for the Jets this upcoming season. Aaron Rodgers, who is a top ten QB of all-time, seemingly came out of retirement to come play for the New York Jets. But a trade still needed to happen between the two clubs, which as of this article has still not occurred yet.
The news of Rodgers wanting to play for the Jets nearly broke the internet, but in a very peculiar way. There are people who think it’s a bad move. There are Jets fans who want no part of Aaron Rodgers - because he may be a weird guy, because he’s going on his age 39 season, or because he can only give the Jets 1-2 years at the max. Let's go through a couple of things really quick here. First, and I can’t overstate this: Aaron Rodgers WANTS to play for the New York Jets. Can anyone reading this please tell me the last time a superstar player, specifically at the quarterback position, said publicly they want to play for the Jets? I can't. Second, who absolutely cares if he is only here for 1-2 years? When healthy, he very well may be the most talented thrower of the football I’ve ever seen. I say when healthy because he wasn’t fully healthy last season. Lastly, the Jets are ready to win right now.
With Rodgers at the helm, put the Jets in the same boat as the Bills, Dolphins, Jaguars and Chargers. We have to leave the Bengals and Chiefs in their own category for right now until one of these other teams proves they can beat them. But think about that. The J-E-T-S are in the conversation now. With a defense that finished in the top five last year, and not one, but two rookies of the year, this team is poised to end their playoff drought.
Now, can the Jets not make the playoffs? Yes. I counted seven teams in that last paragraph, but we did not mention the Ravens (assuming Lamar returns), the Browns - with a full year of DeShaun Watson, and the Broncos - with Sean Payton seemingly there to “fix” Russell Wilson. That’s ten teams potentially vying for seven spots. So can the Jets get unlucky and can guys get hurt? Of course. Can the Rodgers decline last year be absolutely real? Sure. But we aren’t here for that today. Every single Jets fan should be excited about this upcoming season. Aaron Rodgers will be your quarterback. He will be throwing the ball to Garrett Wilson. Breece Hall will be back. Sauce Gardner will be locking down the opponent’s number one receiver. Quinnen Williams will be saying “bless me” when he sacks the quarterback. The New York Jets will have as good as a chance as any team in the AFC to dethrone the Chiefs.
So on the five year anniversary of a trade that completely backfired, take your victory lap, Jets fans. Because in a love story, the guy always gets the girl in the end. And well, the Jets got the girl. Yea, you can say it again - The Jets got the girl.
