Sauce Gardner is certain the Jets will end their playoff drought with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
Gardner, the 22-year-old Jets corner who won the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year award last season, appeared on The Ringer’s “Slow News Day” with Kevin Clark.
Clark asked Gardner if the team will make the playoffs this season after acquiring Rodgers in a trade with the Packers on Monday.
“Oh yeah, most definitely, we was a playoff team last year,” Gardner answered.
“But with A-Rod joining, and a few more new pieces, that just makes it, you know, easy.”
The Jets have not made the postseason since 2010. And now that the Kings made the NBA playoffs this season, the Jets are tied with the NHL’s Sabres for the longest drought of any team in the four major professional sports.
In a press conference on Tuesday in which he discussed the trade that is expected to get finalized this week, Jets general manager Joe Douglas was very excited about landing Rodgers.
“Aaron is one of the best QBs to ever play,” Douglas said. “It’s a real credit to Robert [Saleh], his staff and what he’s been able to implement with our players and with everyone here, that a player of Aaron’s caliber would even want to come here.”
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.
After the news of the Rodgers trade broke on Monday, Gardner shared a text exchange on social media that he had in March with the quarterback, referring to a Cheesehead hat Gardner sported after the Jets defeated the Packers in October.
“Lol. Why do u still have that?” Rodgers asked Gardner about the cheesehead.
Gardner responded, “I envisioned this. I knew it was gonna be a chance that you become a Jet. I’m waiting for you to become a Jet so I can burn it & we can win a Superbowl together.”
To this, Rodgers replied, “Would be a pretty sick story wouldn’t it?”
Want to catch a game? The Jets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Rodgers helping the Jets ending their playoff drought as Gardner predicted will be step one in that potential story.