The New York Jets have leveraged their next two seasons on Aaron Rodgers. One insider thinks some Jets fans could be disappointed with the team’s backup situation after an offseason of heavy spending.
The Jets gave up draft capital and over $100 million in cap space to obtain Rodgers’ services in 2023 and 2024. This offseason has been a spending frenzy of adding Rodgers-friendly talents on offense. (And on the defense, if one wants to speculate why Adrian Amos will be wearing green this fall.)
NFL News: New York Jets fans will have to ride with Aaron Rodgers
The Jets did so with the intention of going all in to win a Super Bowl during that time. But that leaves the team vulnerable if Rodgers is injured this season. His 39-year-old body already suffered an injury, however minor, during OTAs.
Zack Rosenblatt with The Athletic recently came out with his 53-man prediction for the Jets roster this season. Rosenblatt predicts the Jets will go with Rodgers, Zach Wilson, and Tim Boyle (another former Green Bay Packers player and Rodgers teammate) as their choice at quarterback this season. Rosenblatt thinks the fan base would rather bring in another backup before training camp:
“I know some fans would like the Jets to bring in someone like Teddy Bridgewater or Nick Foles to create a more stable backup situation in the event Rodgers gets injured. At this stage, I’d be surprised if that happens. The Jets liked what they saw out of Wilson in OTAs and feel confident this new environment he’s working in — with Rodgers, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and passing game coordinator Todd Downing — will pay dividends.
It’s fair to be skeptical that Wilson can handle the pressure of leading a team with designs on winning a Super Bowl, but the Jets are in trouble if Rodgers gets hurt no matter who the backup is.”
Wilson showed he wasn’t ready for the job last season. One would expect him not to be capable of leading the Jets to the Super Bowl should Rodgers go down this season. But there aren’t many realistic options for the Jets at backup quarterback after spending the resources they did to get Rodgers.
The Jets have $23 million in cap space to play around with this summer. That money would be better spent on getting an offensive lineman to protect Rodgers or another wide receiver, like DeAndre Hopkins, to get the ball out of his hands faster so he doesn’t take hits. The Jets Super Bowl gamble rides or dies with Rodgers.
Teddy Bridgewater isn’t going to limp the Jets over the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs.
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