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Jay Glazer announced on Super Bowl Sunday that the Jets are moving on from Aaron Rodgers, and the team made it official on February 13.
It’s February 28, and we still don’t know why they did it.
Some thought maybe this week we would get more information on the move since the GM and head coach spoke for the first time since the move on Tuesday.
But we got nothing.
I don’t listen to local sports talk shows at all, but something popped up on my YouTube feed from WFAN’s Evan Roberts, who ranted on this topic:
“I need closure and Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey are not giving me closure,” Roberts said. “Why did you move on from [Rodgers] – why did you feel it was best?”
The only one who really pressed Mougey on it was Brian Costello:
Costello: “Why is it the best thing for the team to not have (Aaron) Rodgers? I mean obviously he threw 28 touchdowns plus the 4,000 yards there’s some production there in 2024, why is he not…?”
Mougey: “Yeah, we just felt like the best thing moving forward for the Jets was to go in a different direction at quarterback.”
There was one other question about some of the fan outrage over the decision, and Mougey responded:
“I understand why some people, look Aaron’s a great guy and a great player, so I understand some of those feelings, but every decision AG and I make since we’ve got here and moving forward is what the goal of winning now and from now on.”
This answer I find a little perplexing.
If he’s “a great guy” and “a great player” why would you move on?
Seriously. Not being flippant. If he’s a great guy and great player – what’s the issue – great guy and great player – sounds like a guy you would want around.
Let’s dive into the GM saying he’s a “great guy.”
Because most people assume a big reason they are getting rid of him is because they want to establish a new culture and Rodgers is an iconoclast who theoretically might make that tough.
Does the owner think Rodgers is a “a great guy” after he criticized him and his teenage son in the media?
So I’m not sure about this idea that that the higher-ups in the organization think he’s “a great guy.”
I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. I don’t know him well enough, but based on their actions, do you think they believe he’s “a great guy?”
Remember what Keyshawn Johnson, a friend and former teammate of Glenn’s, said right after the coach was hired.
“I’m just letting you know, he ain’t going to start his career with that mess,” Johnson said on FSI.
If a guy is considered “a mess” by a good friend of the coach, how might the coach feel about the player, that he’s “a great guy.”
Costello, an old school reporter still willing to ask the uncomfortable questions, asked Mougey, “With Aaron, was his off the field activity any part of this decision?”
“I am not going to comment on any of the Aaron Rodgers stuff anymore than I already have,” Mougey said.
But Costello is probably on to something – this decision was probably about the player being a distraction, going on with Pat McAfee and his clapping seals once a week during the season, skipping minicamp last year, making fun of the owner’s son (What QB in history would survive that?) and so forth.
They are probably going from Rodgers to QB no-man’s land for now, based on the QB’s personality, so with that being said, it’s hard to think they believe he’s a “a great guy.”
As for Glenn, we got no meat on the bone from him this week on why he decided to move on from Rodgers. Here was his main answer:
“We’re confident we’re trying to win games, so what that may be, it is what it is, so and that’s said,” Glenn said. “The thing is I don’t want to disrespect any other players we have on our team, and it kind of pisses me off and some of the other players that that’s what we all talk about. You have Quinnen Williams, you have Quincy Williams, you have AVT (Alijah Vera-Tucker), you have Joe Tippmann, all those guys need to respected as far as winning games also.”
So after he said he was pissed off, the media essentially moved on, with just one other question about Rodgers regarding a Quinnen Williams tweet.
Glenn has this down pat already – he tells the media he’s pissed off about the question, and the essentially move on. It’s a good formula, especially in a day and age of a less ferocious New York media.
So we still have no clarity on why the Jets released Rodgers, and we might never have it.
And some might argue that they don’t owe us an explanation, and perhaps those people are right.
But if he’s a “great player” AND a “great guy” why would you move on?
February 28. 2025
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