Aaron Rodgers has begun attending Jets offseason workouts, but it took an extensive process for the Packers to move him off their roster. The teams had different goals when they begun negotiations.
The Packers initially sought a trade package comparable to the haul the Seahawks received for Russell Wilson or the Lions picked up for Matthew Stafford, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports. But with Rodgers moving out of the picture in Green Bay, the Jets were never expected to pay what it would have likely cost the Broncos (or another suitor) to pry Rodgers from the Packers in 2021 or ’22. Still, the lag time between the first Rodgers-related discussion between Packers GM Brian Gutekunst and Jets counterpart Joe Douglas — in January, when the latter represented the only interested party among those Gutekunst contacted — led to some uncertainty.
Just before Derek Carr committed to the Saints, Jets brass debated if they should make a stronger push for the longtime Raiders quarterback, Costello adds. The Jets hosted Carr in February and met with him again at the Combine. Though, Gang Green viewed the 10th-year veteran as its Rodgers backup plan throughout the process. With the Jets not knowing until March 12 Rodgers was even planning to play in 2023, they saw their top backup plan vanish when Carr signed with the Saints on March 6.
Shortly after the Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett as OC — a move widely rumored to be a Rodgers-related decision — Robert Saleh instructed his staff to study Jimmy Garoppolo and Ryan Tannehill, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes. The former 49ers starter surfaced as a Jets option, while the longtime Titans first-stringer has been involved in trade rumors this year. But the Jets waited out Rodgers and received confirmation, via the four-time MVP’s agent contacting Douglas, his client was onboard with the Jets.
The Packers could have obtained more in a trade for Rodgers had they unloaded him in 2021 or ’22, but Jordan Love had not progressed to the point the team was ready to roll with the former No. 26 overall pick. Gutekunst sought to tell Rodgers the Packers planned to field a younger roster this season and make moves to help their salary cap, per Breer, with this meaning Rodgers favorites Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis would not be back. (Cobb is now a Jet, with Lewis potentially on the team’s radar.) Of course, Gutekunst and Rodgers never got around to a meeting regarding his future. The parties had multiple January meetings in California scheduled, Breer adds; neither came to fruition. Gutekunst dealt with Rodgers’ agent during the trade talks.
As for the trade price, one of the Jets’ counterproposals — during the sides’ off-and-on talks — involved a 2025 Packers second-round pick coming back in the event Rodgers did not return in 2024. The March Rodgers-Jets summit did not involve discussion about how much longer Rodgers would play, though that later became an understandable component of the Jets’ trade push. Instead of the Jets receiving a 2025 second from the Packers — in the event Rodgers retires after this season — the teams agreed on the deal that included the 2024 first-rounder being a conditional pick and not a locked-in 1, Breer adds. That said, Rodgers has only failed to play 65% of his team’s offensive snaps twice in his 15-year starter run. It represents a fairly safe bet the Jets will send the Packers their 2024 first-rounder in this swap.
Rather than the 65% figure, the Jets wanted to tie the 2024 draft choice to team placement, per Breer. But the Packers did this in the Brett Favre trade 15 years ago; the Green Bay icon’s biceps injury ended up leading the Jets out of the playoff race and reducing the Pack’s compensation to a 2009 third-rounder. With Packers president Mark Murphy involved in both negotiations, the Packers did not relent on a refusal to tie the pick to the Jets’ 2023 record.
Douglas was a bit leery about a potential post-draft suitor emerging as an alternative for Rodgers, Breer adds. The Jets had lost Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in a two-team race last year. The All-Pro wideout was nearly a Jet, but when the Dolphins entered the fray, Miami became Hill’s preferred destination. This helped provide the impetus for the Jets to complete the deal by the draft, even as no other teams were closely connected to Rodgers this offseason.
The 2023 pick-swap component also did not enter the negotiations until late. That turned out to matter, with many believing the Jets were prepared to draft tackle Broderick Jones in Round 1. The Steelers moved up three spots, from No. 17 to No. 14, to prevent that from happening. New York selected edge rusher Will McDonald with its Green Bay-obtained No. 15 pick. The Packers chose Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness at 13.
The Jets whiffed on this trade. Big time.
Even if that wasn’t the case, they have to at some point solve the problem of being inept at developing young QB prospects.
So the first round pick swap meant that the NYJ didn’t get the offensive tackle they needed, while the Packers could have had their man at number 15.
Talk about adding insult to injury. If the NYJ are not a sure fire playoff team by week 12, they should give Rodgers the rest of the season off to make sure the 2024 pick is second round.
Horrible, horrible deal, which suggests like the Browns, the NYJ will always be the Jets. Bad management baked in, despite signs of life under coach Robert Saleh.
I can see them trying (not sure Rodgers would go along with this..) to limit his snaps on a per-game basis all season. A series here or there, actually pull him in blowouts..winning or losing..etc. And play it off as “we need to get ZW experience in case Rodgers retires,” not a manipulation of the trade compensation.
The publicized jet excursion to pay homage to Rogers tipped the scales in the Packers’ favor. Those are the things that GMs do in secret to avoid losing negotiation power.
whether the Jets got value can’t be judged until Aaron Rodgers is done in NY. Pitt could leapfrogged the Jets at 13, too. They were just as desperate, if not more, to get a LT.
Whaaaaaaaaa!!!
The packers tried to get as much as possible for Rodgers, while the Jets tried to pay as little as possible for him?
You don’t say!
Right. I mean what a concept.
A year ago I still believe they could have gotten a similar package to what Seattle got for Wilson. Too many factors worked against it this year.
One of those factors may have been the outcome of the Wilson trade.
The Packers were fortunate enough to get what they did. They and Rodgers made it clear he wasn’t coming back and the cap charge for this year made the move a challenge.
The Jets put themselves in a position of desperation to the point that fans were calling them the Yets (Yet to have acquired Rodgers). Rodgers did help with the Jets overpay with his comment of intending to play for the Jets this season.
If the Jets get to the SB, the trade will likely be worth it for the Jets. If they win the SB, it will definitely be worth it. The conditional pick for 2024 is going to be a 1st round pick unless Rodgers has a significant injury which will make the deal of a lower value to the Jets. If Rodgers decides to retire after 1 season, it will have little value to the Jets unless the SB stuff above happens.
You can’t compare any trade to the Wilson trade. You might not ever see that again. Still, GB did get a decent package for a guy they were desperate to get rid of.
Jets would have been better off just signing Carr. Bcs of Brady, both fans as well as teams now believe every QB will play effectively into his mid 40’s. This is definitely not the case. I could easily see Aaron totally bombing this season and that being the end of him. He certainly has many interests outside of football. Have to wonder how strong that drive still is… Anything less than a SB makes this trade a bust for NY. Odds are stacked against it.