The trade between the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers finally took place, ending what was the worst kept secret in the NFL. The trade negotiations have been ongoing for so long that the story of a 4 time MVP being traded doesn’t even seem to be breaking news at this point.
The full trade breaks down as such:
New York Jets Receive:
Aaron Rodgers
2023 1st Round Pick (NO. 15)
2023 5th round pick (NO. 170)
Green Bay Packers Receive:
2023 1st Round Pick (NO. 13)
2023 2nd Round Pick (NO. 42)
2023 6th Round Pick (NO. 207)
2024 Conditional 2nd round pick (becomes a 1st if Rodgers plays 65% of the snaps in 2023)
Rodgers will in fact now suit up for his 18th season in 2023 and is only 2 years removed from winning back to back MVP trophies, but had seemingly worn out his welcome in Green Bay with his despondent play this past season. He finished the 2022 season with 3695 passing yards and a respectable 26 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, but those numbers show a steep decline as Rogers hadn’t thrown for less than 4000 yards over a full season since 2015, and the 12 interceptions were the most he has thrown since 2008, which was his first full season as a starter.
Acquiring the soon to be 40 year old quarterback didn’t cost the Jets much. With most of the quarterback positions filling up as the offseason began, Green Bay was short on potential suitors. After losing fan favourite Mike White, the Jets needed to bring in someone new at the position, as Zach Wilson has proven to be a draft bust for the organization.
Without much leverage at the negotiating table, the Jets were able to get their new starting quarterback without giving up too much of their future draft capital. If Rodgers plays over 65% of the team’s snaps in 2023, then it’s likely that the future conditional pick turns into a 1st round pick, that will likely be in the bottom third of the draft.
The ongoing saga has been a thorn in the side of both organizations as fans awaited its conclusion. Rodgers had been toying with retirement for the past few seasons, and spent a part of this offseason participating in a “darkness retreat” to help him decide whether or not he wanted to return to the Packers.
When he came back into the light, Jets coaches, ownership and management flew out to meet with him, with the goal of convincing him to accept a trade to New York and be their new starting quarterback. They have even accepted a “free agent wish list” from Rodgers, consisting of players that he would like the Jets to sign. The list reportedly included his best friend Randall Cobb, tight end Mercedes Lewis, Odell Beckham Jr (who has now signed with the Baltimore Ravens) and former teammate Allen Lazard, who the Jets have already inked to a 4 year $44 million deal.
The Jets are now an early favourite to be a breakout team this coming season, as they’ve built a solid core but have lacked a reliable starting quarterback. They’ve been forced to start at least 2 quarterbacks per season, whether due to injury or poor performance, since 2015 when Ryan Fitzpatrick last suited up for all 16 games. They finished the 2022 season with the top ranked defense in the league but were 29th in the NFL in points scored, and 2nd last in overall offense.
With a receiving corps being built around rookie standout Garret Wilson, and showing a willingness to surround their new quarterback with his preferred targets, Rodgers will have plenty of weapons at his disposal, something that he was lacking during his tenure in Green Bay.
Green Bay gets out from the remaining 3 years of Rogers contract and will finally turn the page on what has clearly been a deteriorating relationship between organization and player. The relationship began to fracture when the Packers took quarterback prospect Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft despite Rodgers publicly asking the team to add more offensive weapons.
While the organization has focused on building the team from the defensive side in the draft, the offense has begun to falter as Rodgers failed to build much rapport with his new young receiving group. The Packers must have seen something they liked in Love when they took him in 2020, but to this point he’s only started one game, and enters the season on the 4th year of his rookie contract. The Packers have a 5th year option they can pick up, but that will be difficult to decide on without any gametape at the NFL level. Unfortunately waiting so long to make the trade hampered the Packers ability to sign any significant free agents this offseason, and they look like a team readying to enter full rebuild mode in 2023.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Mike Morbeck. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.