Aaron Rodgers went on ESPN last week and criticized Aaron Glenn for how the Jets coach handled the quarterback’s final meeting with the team, a quick encounter where the coach told him they were moving on from him.
“That was kind of strange,” Rodgers said. “I think we are going to have this long conversation. I’ve flown across the country, and 20 seconds in he goes and he leans to the edge of his seat and says, ‘So, you want to play football?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’ And he was like, ‘We’re going in a different direction at quarterback.’
“I was kind of shocked. Not shocked because I didn’t think it was a possibility, but shocked because I just flew across the country and you could’ve told me this over the phone.”
So what you have heard ad infinitum since that report, from fans and reporters, is that Rodgers saying this stuff on ESPN proves the team did the right thing moving on.
Headline – “Aaron Rodgers’ words for Aaron Glenn are a reminder: The Jets were right to move on.”
“Aaron is on a national TV show talking about a private conversation, that kind of is evidence of part of why the Jets just didn’t think this would be a workable situation,” said NFL Network’s Tom Pellisero.
This is a very, very common narrative that is all over social media.
From a football perspective, it has some holes in it.
You can talk all you want about Rodgers being a pain in the ass sometimes, but any objective observer, without an agenda against the QB, and who looked at the 2024 Jets film, would likely conclude the legendary signal-caller was not high up on the list of Jets problems last year.
Rodgers, a four-time MVP, threw 28 TD passes last season, the same as league MVP Josh Allen, and 10 more than Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts.
Now they are going from Rodgers, who has a 153-87-1 NFL record, to a quarterback who is 14-30.
Hey, it could work out great, but it remains to be seen if they are better off without him because he went public about a final meeting with the team, which he thought could have been handled better.
The NFL is a QB-driven league, so to say you are better off without a future Hall-of-Famer, who played well down the stretch last year, because you don’t like some of the things he says or does, let’s see how that works out for the Jets next season.
Because, as Hall-of-Fame QB Kurt Warner recently said: “If you don’t have a guy who can play the (QB) position really well, you don’t have a chance, you can’t compete against the best teams in the league.”
Let’s check back during the next season and see how the team is doing without Rodgers. They could be doing great. We shall see.
Hey, it might have been the right move to head in a different direction, but not because of some things Rodgers said last week to Mr. Tank Top.
That is a reach.
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