There are several former Green Bay Packers players that currently playing for the New York Jets. Of course, this has been the case for the last two years due to the trade that sent four-time NFL MVP and future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to New York ahead of the 2023 NFL season.
Rodgers’ first year in Jet Green saw his new team acquire such players as Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Tim Boyle, Billy Turner, and Adrian Amos. They also hired one of his favorite coaches, Nathaniel Hackett, to be their offensive coordinator.
Unfortunately, it did not work out for many of them last season. With Rodgers out for virtually all of the 2023 season with a torn Achilles, the Jets struggled to win seven games. Boyle and Amos did not even finish the season with New York. Cobb and Turner were not brought back.
More Former Green Bay Packers Players Joined Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in 2024
With Rodgers back and healthy in 2024, the Jets fully expected to compete for a Super Bowl. However, that has been far from their reality as they have struggled more this year than they did in 2023. After a 2-3 start, New York fired their head coach, Robert Saleh, who has since joined Matt LaFleur‘s staff in Green Bay.
But firing Saleh did not have the effect they thought it would. The Jets continued to lose. In an effort to turn their stagnant offense around, they went out and acquired former Packers All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.
In the five games he has played since reuniting with his former quarterback, though, Adams has 26 receptions for 268 yards and a touchdown. He is averaging 55.6 receiving yards per game with New York. Prior to leaving the Las Vegas Raiders, he was averaging 69.7.
Another former Packers player that joined the Jets later in the season was maligned kicker Anders Carlson, who was released by Green Bay in favor of Greg Joseph. Of course, the Packers’ kicking situation was an embarrassment after the team decided to part ways with Mason Crosby following the 2022 season. Joseph was cut in favor of Brayden Narveson, who in turn was eventually released in favor of Brandon McManus.
And while the Packers may not have wanted Carlson, it sounds like New York does.
Jets Writer Predicts former Packers Kicker Anders Carlson Will Remain in New York in 2025
Since being cut by the Packers, Carlson has bounced around the NFL a bit, trying out for various practice squads and rosters. There seems to have been a great deal more injuries to kickers this season than in years past, which coupled with inconsistency around the league has kept Carlson employed.
He enjoyed a two-game stint with the San Francisco 49ers when both their starting kicker and his replacement got hurt. He made all five of his field goal attempts and three of his four extra points in that span.
After San Francisco, he was added to the Jets’ practice squad when their starting kicker, Greg Zuerlein, got hurt. But when the Kansas City Chiefs signed his replacement away following an injury to Harrison Butker, Carlson was added to New York’s 53-man roster.
He has only played in one game for the Jets, but he was 2/2 on his field goals, which included a 58-yarder, his career high. He also made all three extra points.
Zack Rosenblatt, who covers New York for The Athletic, recently wrote an article in which he predicted whether each player on the roster would stay or go in 2025. Of Carlson, he wrote, “Stay. So far, so good — he’s made all three of his field goal attempts, including one from 58 yards.”
Rosenblatt does not have Rodgers, Adams, or Lazard returning to the Jets in 2025. How ironic would it be that, after all of this, Anders Carlson is the only former Packers player to remain in New York?
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