When the New York Jets needed a quarterback, they traded for Aaron Rodgers, believing the four-time MVP would make them immediate Super Bowl contenders. It’s safe to say the Jets were more than a 40-year-old quarterback away from getting back to the championship stage.
After the first year was lost due to a torn Achilles, we’re now eight games into the Rodgers experiment, and the Jets are one of the worst teams in the NFL, at 2-6. If the season ended today, the Jets would have the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. At that point, it’d be nearly impossible to overlook a top quarterback prospect.
Yet, if the Jets feel like they’re not headed to the playoffs this season, what about getting a head start on improving the outlook of their future? Doing so would certainly include a situation where the Super Bowl-winning quarterback gets traded elsewhere, and now one NFL insider is speculating about a potential Rodgers trade.
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Would the New York Jets trade Aaron Rodgers?
The new York Jets trading Aaron Rodgers seemed like a crazy thought before the 2024 NFL season kicked off, but being in last place of the AFC East is obviously not where they expected to be. The Jets have already started to clean house by firing Robert Saleh. Even though they’ve since added more star talent by trading for Davante Adams, would they consider reversing course and becoming trade deadline sellers?
It’s a fair question, and it’s one that Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio recently discussed.
“If the Jets lose to the Texans on Thursday night, falling to 2-7, and if the starting quarterback on a contending team suffers a season-ending injury during Week 9, could Aaron Rodgers be traded?
PFT’s Mike Florio on Aaron Rodgers trade
It’s highly unlikely. Mainly because it’s highly unlikely (but not impossible) that a starting quarterback will be seriously injured this weekend. But if it happens, and if the Jets realize at 2-7 that the fork is stuck in them, would Rodgers want to be traded, would the Jets do it, and (more importantly) would another team trade for him?”
It’s hard to envision the Jets moving on from their quarterback, especially considering they no longer have a developmental option with high upside like Zach Wilson, who’s now rotting away on the bench as the third QB in Denver. The only other quarterbacks in the Jets organization are a 35-year-old Tyrod Taylor and undrafted second-year pro Adrian Martinez, who’s on the practice squad.
Plus, what would a team even give up for an aging quarterback who’s best days are well behind him? Probably not much. Ultimately, trading Rodgers seems unlikely, but this is the NFL, where a lot crazier things have happened.
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