Aaron Rodgers traded to Jets in franchise-altering blockbuster
The Jets landed their man … finally.
After weeks of speculation, Aaron Rodgers is now the Jets quarterback.
The Jets and Packers agreed to a trade Monday, a source confirmed, exactly 40 days after Rodgers publicly declared his desire to come to New York.
The deal has a lot of moving parts and we won’t know who truly “won” the deal until we see how well and how long Rodgers plays for the Jets.
The trade includes a swap of first-round picks in this year’s draft. The Packers will now pick 13th overall on Thursday night and the Jets will move to 15th.
The Jets are also sending Green Bay a second-round pick (No. 42 overall) and a sixth-round pick (No. 207 overall) in this year’s draft as well as a 2024 conditional pick that will be a first-round pick if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays for the Jets in 2023 or a second-round pick if he does not.
In addition to Rodgers, the Jets will receive a fifth-round pick (No. 170 overall) in this year’s draft.
The trade won’t be official until the terms of Rodgers’ contract are finalized.
He is scheduled to make nearly $60 million in 2023 but is expected to renegotiate that deal before coming to the Jets.
Aaron Rodgers traded to the Jets
On Monday, after months of speculation and rumors, the Jets and Packers came to an agreement on a trade that brings four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to New York.
The trade immediately upgrades the Jets from rising team to playoff contender with the hopes that Rodgers will help break one of the longest active postseason droughts in sports.
The trade
The Jets receive: Aaron Rodgers, No. 15 pick (2023) and No. 170 pick (2023).
The Packers receive: No. 13 pick (2023), No. 42 pick (2023), No. 207 pick (2023) and a conditional second-round 2024 draft pick that conveys to a first-rounder if Rodgers plays 65% of the Jets’ plays in 2023.
What comes next
The trade still needs to be finalized — the terms of Rodgers’ contract need to be worked out — and sent to the NFL.
Both teams will begin feeling this deal as early as Thursday at the 2023 NFL Draft.
For the Packers, it’s now about getting fourth-year QB Jordan Love ready to take over. With Gang Green, it’s about getting a whole host of new faces on the same page offensively.
This ends weeks of discussion and debate about a Rodgers trade.
Jets general manager Joe Douglas and Packers GM Brian Gutekunst discussed a trade in March and then talks broke down for several weeks before they reignited late last week.
The two sides finally agreed to the deal Monday.
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The four-time MVP instantly elevates the Jets into a playoff contender and lets them dream of a Super Bowl.
The team finished 7-10 last year with the No. 4 defense in football but a glaring hole at quarterback, where 2021 first-round pick Zach Wilson struggled mightily and was benched in favor of Mike White.
Jets owner Woody Johnson said in January that he was “absolutely” willing to spend big money to land a quarterback.
He called it the “missing piece” for the Jets team.
That, and reports that a Rodgers trade was likely this offseason, began the speculation that the Jets would make a push for Rodgers.
The Jets threw gasoline on that fire when they hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator later that month.
Hackett was Green Bay’s offensive coordinator from 2019-21 and Rodgers won two MVP awards working with him.
Rodgers has consistently praised Hackett.
For a while it was unclear whether Rodgers even wanted to play in 2023. He went on a “darkness retreat” in February to figure out what he wanted to do.
A few weeks later, the Packers granted permission for the Jets to speak to him.
A contingent that included Johnson, his brother Christopher, coach Robert Saleh, Douglas and Hackett traveled to California to spend time with him and deliver their sales pitch.
A few days later, Rodgers told the Jets he wanted to play for them and then announced it to the world March 15 on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
While Rodgers’ arrival gives the Jets reason to celebrate, there still are questions.
We’ll see how the contract looks after it is renegotiated and he could give the Jets some friendly terms.
At the moment, though, he carries a hefty price tag. Rodgers turns 40 in December.
Want to catch a game? The Jets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Tom Brady has proven quarterbacks can be successful into their 40s, but he is an exception.
Rodgers had a down season for him in 2022, throwing for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He was dealing with a thumb injury, but it is fair to wonder if it is a sign of things to come.
There is also a question of how committed Rodgers will be. He told McAfee that he was “90 percent retired” when he entered the darkness retreat.
That scared some of the decisionmakers with the Jets.
Will Rodgers play for them in 2024 or is this a one-season only engagement?
Will he show up for voluntary OTAs to work with his new receivers?
From a team perspective, the Jets are clearly better now with Rodgers than they were with Wilson, but they still have questions on the offensive line that need to be fixed.
Like any quarterback, Rodgers needs protection.
The Jets and their fans have lived something like this before. In August 2008, the Packers traded Brett Favre to the Jets, opening the door for Rodgers to become the starter in Green Bay.
Things started off well with Favre leading the Jets to an 8-3 record.
But he injured his arm and the team lost four of its final five games and missed the playoffs at 9-7.
Favre retired a few months later only to return to play for the Vikings.
The concerns and worries about Rodgers’ future can wait for another day, though. For now, the Jets and their fans have reason to believe.
The dream became reality Monday. Aaron Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, is now a Jet.
