Darren Mougey may soon be tied to the two largest single-player dead money hits in NFL history. Mougey worked with Sean Payton and George Paton as the Broncos signed off on an astonishing $83MM-plus in Russell Wilson dead cap, and he is now in charge of a Jets team prepared to move on from Aaron Rodgers. The expected release would come with a $49MM dead money charge, which figures to also be spread out into two offseasons via a post-June 1 designation.
If the Jets are to take that route, they must wait until March 12 to release Rodgers. The Jets communicated with their high-profile quarterback late last week, with SI.com’s Albert Breer reporting the team flew Rodgers in for that meeting. This was not the only time Rodgers and new Jets HC Aaron Glenn spoke this offseason, as ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini indicates the two had multiple conversations since the hire.
[RELATED: Jets Aiming To Pair Rookie, Veteran QBs]
The Broncos had faced a deadline on Wilson’s 2025 salary becoming guaranteed had he not been released before the 2024 vesting date, whereas Rodgers’ 2025 salary is nonguaranteed right now. The Jets could also be prepared to cut the at once, with OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald pointing to the more likely scenario being Rodgers is released soon and thus not set to carry a post-June 1 designation. Rather than the Jets taking on $14MM in dead cap this year and $35MM in 2026, a standard release would tag them with the entire bill in 2025.
New regimes generally care less about dead money charges associated with previous staffs, but given the high turnover rate (especially in the coaching ranks) in the modern NFL, it would stand to reason Glenn would not want $49MM clogging the Jets’ 2025 salary cap. Despite Glenn having a high opinion of Rodgers’ abilities during the latter’s final Packers season and the two being amenable to working together with the Jets, the AFC East team has been widely expected to move on from a failed experiment for several weeks. The Sunday report offered some finality, and the timing of the official move will clear up the financial component.
Rodgers, 41, was open to reworking his deal yet again, SNY’s Connor Hughes offers. Rodgers took a significant pay cut in reworking his deal upon arriving in New York, and the polarizing QB did not insist on a new deal during his Packers standoff in 2021. (The Packers did give him one in 2022, designing the contract to help facilitate a 2023 trade.) Rodgers has earned more than $380MM in his career; fit figures to be his primary concern if he plays a 21st season.
It is not yet known if that will happen, though ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during a Pat McAfee Show appearance that he does expect a 21st season to commence (video link). We asked readers in December where Rodgers would end up. Retirement won out, and the Raiders checked in as the top non-Jets option. While I suggested the Titans in a Trade Rumors Front Office piece, that came before Tennessee obtained the No. 1 overall pick. As of now, DraftKings has the Steelers as a slight favorite for Rodgers, with the Raiders and 49ers checking in at second and third here.
Rodgers has enjoyed a weekly spot on McAfee’s show for a while, frequently using the platform to levy various criticisms and make a number of interesting statements — many not pertaining to football. Had Rodgers been asked to stay with the Jets, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini said during her Scoop City podcast (via Awful Announcing) Glenn and Mougey would have wanted him to ditch the McAfee segments and focus on football. This follows a Glenn introductory presser where he seemed to draw a line from a period where the Jets constantly catered to Rodgers, whose relationship with Woody Johnson also deteriorated during this span.
As fun as a Rodgers-Mike Tomlin pairing would be, Pittsburgh has been closely connected to re-signing either Wilson or Justin Fields; Fields may be the more likely candidate to be retained. Rodgers would be a passing upgrade on both, but pivoting from a 25-year-old Fields for a 41-year-old Rodgers would be an interesting route. Fields staying in Pittsburgh would place Wilson and Kirk Cousins as veterans competing with Rodgers for jobs, adding intrigue to a QB market that may or may not include Sam Darnold — depending on the Vikings’ franchise tag call. A robust Rodgers market may not be too likely, but teams figure to show interest.
If Rodgers is out in New York, it should come as no surprise that Davante Adams is likely gone too. The Jets will not keep Adams on his Raiders-designed contract, per Breer, who notes the All-Pro receiver is almost certainly to be jettisoned soon.
Adams is tied to no guaranteed money on his through-2026 deal, but a Jets October restructure added two void years to his deal. Still, cutting the 32-year-old wideout would create more than $29MM in cap space. The team has not been in contact with the Taco Bell pitchman, who has since been linked to west coast teams like the Rams, Chargers and 49ers.
The Rodgers-Adams pairing leaving town may be good news for the Jets’ hopes of appeasing Garrett Wilson, who was believed to be clashing with the QB and taking issue with his targets following the Adams trade. The Jets will pick up Wilson’s fifth-year option by the May deadline, putting him under contract through 2026. If/when Adams is out, the Jets will again need to address their No. 2 receiver post — a common issue for Gang Green in recent years.
Jets:
Hey Aaron, you wanna see a movie sometime?
Rodgers:
Yes, Im definitely interested.
Jets:
Great! Let us know which one. We’ll go see a different one.
And maybe see if Davante wants to go with you?
Yeah, we’ll never know what Glenn really thinks of Rodgers, ownership was NEVER bringing him back. It devolved into some personal animosity and bridges were burnt.
I still hope he finds a team, the league is more fun when he’s in it. I love how he also has a sidekick… a Robin in davante Adams. Awesome. Hope he finds a team.
It really isn’t the worst time to scale back and trade some pieces. I bet in a down WR draft and underwhelming FA market they can get two firsts + for Garrett Wilson too.
New coach and GM get a little honeymoon period. Can blame Douglas.
Expect a bad year in 2025 and maybe get your QB in 26.
They are more like Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy at this point.
Jets going 0-17 next year?
They have Cleveland at home, so they’re at least winning one. I think they have a real chance to be marginally better than they were this year though, if ownership stays out of the way. Moving off of Rodgers is going to do a lot for chemistry, and there are some talented players on that roster.
Fans will probably hate this, but the Steelers actually make a ton of sense. I am not predicting that this happens, but adding Rodgers and potentially even Adams fills two needs for Pittsburgh as they wait to fill their quarterback role for the long term future. A lot of fans would probably prefer to blow it up and start Fields, but the Steelers weren’t far from being a competitive playoff team and n the postseason. If they’re going to reload instead of rebuild, they could use their picks to fill offensive and defensive holes while improving their quarterback play and potentially adding the second receiver that they’ve sought for some time.
I’m not suggesting necessarily that it be done, but it’s not as bad a fit as many probably think. This isn’t really the Steelers’ style, though, and you have to wonder how much Rodgers and Adams want to end up together in that scenario. Pittsburgh as of now has a few similar issues to New York in that their line, while not the league’s worst, is definitely questionable. Unlike New York, they don’t have as dynamic a tandem of backs. A lot of that is due to the poor shape of the O-Line, but Braelon Allen’s emergence as a rookie runner definitely offered a boost to the Jets run game that Pittsburgh will not have to the same level.
But yeah, I could see a fit. Rodgers’ options seem a bit limited to me, given how many rookies came into the league last year. Teams going the win now route are going to have to ask whether they want to bet on a recently injured Cousins at the league minimum, or the less recently injured Rodgers for a lower end but still decent sized contract. Rodgers probably offers more on the field at this moment (I’m really interested to see how Cousins recovers, and what level he can play at), but Cousins is going to be much cheaper. If Carr leaves New Orleans-which I don’t see at this moment, but their new coach has yet to settle in-then that adds another candidate to that pool.
If I’m the Steelers GM, my goal is to keep Fields. At this point in their careers, I think Fields wins my team more games than Aaron does. I also don’t have to deal with the drama Aaron brings.
But if Adams would come with Aaron, the way you’re suggesting, I don’t know, I can kinda see the fit more. You’d be crossing your fingers that Tomlin is a strong enough personality to manage Aaron, but he has proven capable of that with some diva WR types in the past that no one else has been able to handle. I’d probably hate it less than just about any other team signing Rodgers, which takes a lot for me to say. Lol
I can’t see Tomlin dealing with both mercurial Aaron Rodgers AND business decision Davonte Adams. Even for him that’s too much
are there any Rodgers fans left ? ? imagine most have jumped ship by now