The Aaron Rodgers Experiment in New York is all but officially over with the latest news coming out of Super Bowl week that Rodgers and the Jets met in person in New York and have decided to part ways this offseason, allowing the mercurial quarterback to seek other employment.
You can’t sugarcoat it (although some have tried): it was a disaster. And a public disaster at that, with Rodgers appearing weekly on “The Pat McAfee Show” to talk about his situation over the last few years. Those appearances, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini on her “Scoop City” podcast, may have played a role in Rodgers and the Jets parting ways this offseason.
“I was told that when they had conversations with Aaron Rodgers about what the future would look like, if you’re going to be part of this team, you’re going to attend all of the training camp, you’re not going to do Pat McAfee interviews anymore,” Russini said.
Co-host Chase Daniel was taken aback and pressed Russini on it, who emphasized the issues with Rodgers may have been more of a holistic approach from a new regime spearheaded by head coach Aaron Glenn whom they hired this offseason.
“They had a conversation with him of … if you were going to stay here, here’s how we would want it to be,” Russini said. “So this to me is Aaron Glenn getting control back.”
Asked specifically who said these things to Rodgers, Russini said both newly hired GM Darren Mougey and Glenn delivered the message.
“The GM and the head coach,” Russini replied. “Look, I think it’s Aaron Glenn is the one pushing for ‘I’m holding everyone accountable and every single person on this team is going to be treated the same way.'”
At the end of the day, the McAfee appearances almost certainly weren’t THE specific reason this short-lived marriage isn’t going to continue, which is something Russini conceded on the show.
“I think that no matter what the Jets were going to say, Aaron Rodgers wanted to move on,” Russini said. “Look, do I think there — it’s just like anything else you want to listen, right? — I think he was smart to listen to the Jets and be like where do we stand, how does this work. And maybe if they were on the side of maybe convincing him more this could have changed.
“But this wasn’t the way it was when they traded for him, it was exciting, he was the GM … he’s the GM no more.”
It’s more likely that the new regime wants to try and incorporate a different culture in the building, one that is designed to enhance a “compete”-style mantra throughout the entire building. Glenn comes from the Lions, where Dan Campbell’s created a blue-collar mentality within the entire organization and you have to think the former Detroit defensive coordinator believes it’s the best way to change the culture of a franchise that hasn’t won anything in forever.
Rodgers, when you factor in the way he’s played and his public persona, probably isn’t a good fit for that setup. And, if we’re being honest, the Jets weren’t a quarterback away when they traded for him and they’re not a quarterback away now.
There’s an argument about the Jets keeping the quarterback around since they’re paying him already, but we’ve seen several teams make the decision to move on from quarterbacks they paid a premium for in an early fashion and just ripping the Band-Aid as soon as possible. That’s what the Jets are doing and it’s probably the smart thing — Rodgers will likely be a post-June 1 cut designation, with the team spreading his dead salary cap money over multiple years.
As for where the quarterback lands,The Steelers are one of many pretty obvious landing spots for Rodgers, although not everyone in Pittsburgh is in love with the idea.
I’m still going to pound the table for the idea of the Vikings, simply because Rodgers following the EXACT PATH that Brett Favre blazed before him would be profoundly amusing. And if another former Packers legend landed in Minnesota, we better still be getting the McAfee appearances, because they would be high comedy and/or must-see television on a weekly basis.
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