Rodgers says he intends to play for Jets, waiting on Packers to make trade
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Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday his intention is to play the New York Jets in 2023 and he is waiting for the Green Bay Packers to work out a trade.
"I made it clear my intention was to play and to play for the New York Jets, and I haven't been holding anything up. It's the compensation that the Packers are trying to get," Rodgers told the Pat McAfee Show Wednesday. "The Packers want to move and have let me know that in so many words."
The Packers allowed the Jets to speak to Rodgers last week, setting the stage for a trade to take place. The quarterback revealed Wednesday that meeting lasted for four hours and included the Jets inquiring on players Rodgers may want to play with.
Rodgers has spent his entire career with the Packers, leading the franchise to a Super Bowl XLV title over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011. A 10-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, Rodgers collected back-to-back league MVP accolades in 2020 and 2021, marking his third and fourth time winning the award.
The 39-year-old said Wednesday he believes his time with the Packers would have ended sooner if not for his recent MVP seasons due to the team using a 2020 first-round pick on his apparent successor, Jordan Love.
Love, who appears set to become the Packers' new starter, has seen just one start in his three years since being drafted.
“I have nothing but love in my heart for every Packer fan and everybody who works in the organization,” Rodgers said. “My life is better because of my time in Green Bay. But we’ve just got to look at the reality. They want to move on. They don’t want me to come back and that’s fine.
"They're ready to move on with Jordan. That’s awesome. Jordan's going to be a great player.”
Rodgers' comments follow days of speculation that his time in Green Bay might be done.
Rodgers set to follow Favre's footsteps to Jets
Selected with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft as the successor to then-starter Brett Farve, the University of California product has thrown for a career 59,055 yards - ninth most in NFL history - and 475 touchdowns to 105 interceptions.
A move to the Big Apple would follow the same path Favre took as time with Green Bay came to an end with a trade to the Jets in 2008.
"I'm debatably the best player in franchise history," Rodgers said of his legacy with the franchise. "I'm in the conversation for sure. What's not debatable is I'm the longest-tenured Packer in franchise history. You can debate the first part, Bart, Brett... You can't debate anybody has been there longer than me."
Rodgers' future has been a topic of conversation in each of the past two off-seasons, with the quarterback signing a three-year, $150 million extension to return to the team last March.
He told McAfee on Wednesday that he entered a darkness retreat last month with his mind "90 per cent" set on retiring.
His announcement came one week after Packers president Mark Murphy referred to Rodgers' career with the Packers in the past tense.
“Very few players play for only one team,” Murphy told Green Bay TV station WBAY. "Obviously Brett had a great career. Aaron had a great career here. Regardless of what happens, Aaron will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’ll be in our Hall of Fame. We’ll bring him back, retire his number. This is just one of the things that we go through as a team. We want to try to achieve something that’s good for both Aaron and us.”
The Packers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018 this past season, falling to the Detroit Lions in the final week of the year to finish with an 8-9 record. The team was the No. 1 seed entering the playoffs in 2021, falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, and made the NFC Championship in both 2019 and 2020.
The Jets missed the playoffs for the 12th straight season in 2022, finishing with a 7-10 record. Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco and Mike White all saw time as the team's starter at quarterback last season.