Of course, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams walked through that door on Sunday. Of course, the portrayal of grumpy old men turned into the dynamic duo when the postseason is no longer on the line, but the draft positioning certainly is. Of course, that happened when everyone of significance had been fired and the only ones fighting for the second marriage of Rodgers and Adams’ careers were the quarterback and his favorite wide receiver.
Naturally. Because it’s the New York Jets.
That’s what I was thinking late in the fourth quarter of the New York Jets’ 32-25 comeback win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, when Rodgers took advantage of a clean pocket and threw an undoubtedly impressive 71-yard touchdown dart to Adams. It was the Green Bay Packers story: Rodgers effortlessly ran a rope through the middle of the field while Adams ruthlessly split a pair of defenders in coverage. The ball came down slightly over Adams’ left shoulder and perfectly in a two-handed cradle – in full stride. The two defenders on each side of Adams were helpless to stop it, and even an angling third defender who got a clear shot to tackle him at the 5-yard line couldn’t stop the touchdown.
Halfway down the field, Rodgers ran, shouting and pumping his fists, capturing what might be his most joyous moment of this lost season. In that climax – maybe 30 seconds – everything was possible again and the rest didn’t matter. Not the ten defeats, while there are still three difficult matches scheduled. Not that the upper reaches of the organization have blown up yet. Not team owner Woody Johnson would have come up with the idea to bench Rodgers a few months ago. Not the looming guillotine of next offseason, when a decision will be made to blow this team up further and start over… or possibly keep it together and hope for different results.
Instead, in this one game, Rodgers and Adams took everyone into the time machine and reminded us of that who they are can still be who they were. To the tune of nine completions for 198 yards and two touchdowns. It was the most productive outing between Rodgers and any of his Jets receivers, an outing that was able to stir up some emotions between the quarterback and wideout.
‘Yes – yes, that happened [feel like old times]except he dropped one,” Rodgers said with a smile afterward. ‘And I missed him in the next big third. But yeah, [Davante] is a fantastic player. He dropped it and said he had his dreads pulled. Whether that’s true or not, it seemed like an excuse.”
This was Rodgers in his happy, playful mode. In a season that has produced just four wins, the wind is at your back when you get it. Even if it does beg the question where these types of performances have been since the Jets acquired Adams two months ago, hoping his connection with Rodgers could turn the season around. Rodgers has wondered that too.
“Yes, definitely,” he said on Sunday. “You know, it’s too little, too late. But it remains special. It doesn’t spoil it at all. It doesn’t take away from the joy of it. It doesn’t take away from the fun we’ll just have on the bus, and then on the plane… it’s still special. They are always special. But this was a year for things that – we were close, but we let it slide a little bit in the middle of the season.
That reality might have defined the message Rodgers and Adams sent Sunday: Yes, the season is dead. No, as a tandem we are not. All of this sets up an audition of sorts, with both Rodgers and Adams looking to play together next season. Either with the Jets or somewhere else. Perhaps with the Tennessee Titans, who are inching closer to needing to move on from turnover machine Will Levis and may need a one-year bridge quarterback to emerge as better draft options in 2026. Maybe it’s a year-long bridge role for the New York. Giants or Las Vegas Raiders, if either franchise plays with the idea of redshirting Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward in 2025. Or maybe it’s just camping out in place for another season and working with the same Jets team for one last chance to achieve something, anything, better than the jaw-dropping disappointments of 2023 and 2024.
Given what’s happened for the Jets this season — and an incoming regime likely looking to clean things up — it’s hard to see that latest development happening. Of course, that’s before you consider the other options the Jets have at their disposal. Barring a trade that would be unwise in this weak quarterback draft, they likely won’t have better than the third or fourth best quarterback in the draft at their disposal. And that QB might not even be worth a first-round pick. Unless hell freezes over, top free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold isn’t coming back to play for the Jets. The trading options for veterans aren’t great. And while Rodgers isn’t cheap to keep (he’ll get a $35 million option bonus at the start of the 2025 season, along with $2.5 million in base salary), there might be a way for both he and Adams to negotiate a deal. pay cuts. around and play together.
Even for Rodgers and Adams, it might be the best and only chance to play together again with the Jets. That seems to be a priority for both in 2025.
There aren’t many quarterback depth charts in the league that make a Rodgers addition meaningful, let alone Rodgers And Adams. And if they somehow manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the remaining three games – including winning home games against the Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphins – and a scary road game against a Buffalo Bills team, is that probably the best in the NFL Right now, some attitudes within the Jets could be changing.
Finishing 7-10 and having a four-game winning streak isn’t exactly good. But a sales pitch could include having Rodgers and Adams work together this offseason, along with tightening the roster with a new general manager and head coach. There’s some fresh air to sell. Whether anyone buys it depends on how the next three weeks go.
For his part, Rodgers seemed to move better against the Jaguars. Not only did he slide through the pocket, he also took advantage of his ability to run. It was a far cry from most of the season, when it seemed like he had lost much of his athleticism from the waist down. Instead, Rodgers had some unexpected grit and used it to create a handful of tantalizing moments with Adams. He finished with six rushes for 45 yards after having just 56 rushing yards through the first 13 games of the season.
“Today was one of those days in the second half, it definitely felt very similar to the way we used to get it rolling,” Adams said. “You will never be able to feel all this, but even when we were talking to Aaron, it felt very different. Obviously he is mobile now, but doesn’t have it [hamstring] nagging him the same way I did when I first got here because he can be so on the run – I think teams are starting to play us a little bit like they were when he wasn’t [mobile]. He will make you pay. He’s not going to drive the 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, maybe even a 4.6 [40-yard dash]but in 10-meter sprints he still has that.
In a season of mostly thunderheads, it was a ray of sunlight piercing a gray ceiling. A selling point in the final act of this 2024 Jets tragedy, complete with the uplifting moments where there really isn’t much left to actually lift. All that remains now is to see how this turns out and whether anything can be salvaged before 2025.
Both for the Jets and for the future of their too-little-too-late stars.
