If Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets plan to stick together after this season, they certainly have an interesting way to show it.
The veteran Jets quarterback spoke again about his future with the organization on Tuesday after reporters asked him how to interpret previous comments about a possible release. Perhaps the most notable answers were the shortest, when a reporter brought up Jets owner Woody Johnson:
Reporter: Do you think Woody wants you back?
Rodgers: You should ask Woody that.
Reporter: Have you and Woody had any conversations at all, Aaron, about the future?
Those icy comments came a day after Rodgers took a direct swipe at an earlier report that Johnson allowed his teenage sons Brick and Jack to influence his team’s football decisions, most notably by nixing a trade for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy due to a low Madden -rating.
During his usual appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, Rodgers alluded to the teenage release with a smile:
“I have a first time for everything and there have been a few this year. I’ve never been released before. Being released would be a first. Being released by a teenager would be a first too. I’m open to that happens, it’s a great story.”
Rodgers is currently wrapping up his second season with the Jets, a stretch in which the team finished 4-11 with him under center after missing all of last year with a torn Achilles tendon.
Very little has gone to plan since signing him, even as the franchise grants him no shortage of control by bringing in favored teammates (e.g. Davante Adams, Allen Lazard). And with Rodgers now 41 years old, there isn’t much reason to expect an improvement next year.
Should the Jets release Rodgers after this season, they would have to pay $66.2 million in dead money, which would cost them $49 million in cap space. They could also do a post-June 1 release, which would cost them $21 million in 2025 cap space and $28 million in 2026, per OverTheCap.
It’s still a tough decision to release a player you’re betting will take you to the promised land, especially if giving up means a significant expense on the personnel side. Publicly, Rodgers isn’t betting on what the team does one way or another:
“I think anything is really possible, whether it happens or not… I think decisions will be made the day after the season or a few days after the season. I’m just not naive, it’s not. ” I don’t think 0% is a high percentage.
“I’m just open to anything at this point and understand that a lot of things can happen. From January 6 to 7, they could say, ‘We want you to come back next year,’ but they can just easily say, ‘ We’re going in a different direction,’ whatever that looks like. So again, be open to everything, understand that it’s all possible. And I look forward to those conversations.”
That said, he also had the tone of someone ready to say goodbye after a chaotic summer camp:
“I have nothing but gratitude for the Johnsons and everyone I met here and everyone who brought me in.” It’s, you know, obviously not been as successful as we thought I was going to be, but I’ve made a lot of money. I’ve had a lot of good friends here. I have also had some very difficult moments, but no hostility. Whatever happens, whatever they decide.”
The Jets have two more games this season, the first a road trip to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and then a home game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 18. We’ll see if these are the final games of Rodgers’ Jets career, but the wind is currently blowing in one direction based on the tone.
