Aaron Rodgers’s first year with the New York Jets was odd. While the season was a complete disaster for the Jets as an organization, it wasn’t entirely Rodgers or even the team’s fault. The ACL tear in Aaron’s first series as a Jet was both devastating and unfortunate.
What made the year a complete mess, however, was how the injury still somehow exposed things that were probably going to be exposed if Aaron played the entire season anyway.
The offensive line was likely going to get Aaron injured regardless of the fluke ACL tear because of how poor it was. If it’s still bad, Rodgers may end up in retirement sooner rather than later. The decision to draft Zach Wilson and surround him with almost nothing except Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson continued to sting Jets fans, like salt in a wound. The fact they had no backup plan for Rodgers besides strangely keeping Zach around was also weird in hindsight.
Packers fans getting to see their team make it back to the divisional round didn’t help things as well.
Lastly was the behind-the-scenes stuff. Packers fans called it out as soon as the trade was done that the “diva” side of Rodgers so to speak was going to come around on the Jets as soon as things went wrong. Even with Aaron’s injury being a perfect excuse for New York to miss the playoffs, there was so much drama and rumors about what Aaron was really like in the locker room.
That includes how Aaron had a hand in constructing the 2023 roster to begin with.
How Did Aaron Rodgers Influence The 2023 New York Jets Roster?
For starters, Aaron reeled in his former teammates Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard to come receive for him. Nathaniel Hackett also jumped ship from the burning Denver Broncos to come coach for the Jets, a coach who at this point only really has a job because of Aaron. Critics slammed Aaron and the Jets for bringing in Tim Boyle, a guy who wasn’t even good in college, to be a practice squad backup in the Big Apple.
That ugly pick-six on Black Friday proved that the criticism was valid. Packers fans might not remember it well as that was the day after the Thanksgiving Lions demolishing,
Even free agent pickups Dalvin Cook and Mecole Hardman only arrived because of Rodgers and the potential super team the Jets have been building. If you do the math, half of the offensive starters and the offensive coordinator were all there in 2023 if only for Aaron.
New Reports Have Leaked That Aaron Rodgers Is Still Involved In Roster Building For The 2024 Season
According to Bleacher Report Aaron will continue to have input on personnel and roster changes heading into the 2024 season. That means more position coaches will come from what Aaron wants (Nathaniel Hackett has been also retained as OC, another Rodgers link).
Given the Jets reported $12 million in cap space (which may increase more given the recent salary cap increases), and the fact that they can clear a potential $67 million based on restructurings, Aaron will certainly help the team make some big moves. It might be cheaper moves like signing Odell Beckham Jr, but it’s still something that will be interesting to watch going forward. Especially for Packers fans, as there will undoubtedly be more Packers players winding up in the Big Apple.
