FLORHAM PARK, NJ — Let’s hit the rewind button and go back … back … back … to Feb. 6, 2025, at the New York Jets training facility. Let’s go back to when Aaron Rodgers walked into the office to meet with newly hired coach Aaron Glenn, who had asked to meet face-to-face.
Let’s pretend it didn’t go down the way it did. Let’s say it happened like this:
Instead of firing Rodgers on the spot in what the quarterback later described as a nasty divorce, Glenn embraced the future Hall of Famer and convinced him to return to the Jets for a third season to be the catalyst for a change in their culture.
Aaron and Aaron show.
Where will the Jets be now? Could they be better than a 3-14 team, heading into the offseason in another tough quarterback search?
What if?
No two words best describe Rodgers’ legacy with the Jets. What if he hadn’t ruptured his Achilles in early 2023? What if he was stuck in 2025?
It’s hard to predict how Achilles’ season would have played out if Rodgers had stayed healthy. They went 7-10 with Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian at quarterback, so it’s safe to assume they would have been a winning team with a four-time MVP at the controls.
As for 2025, it would be better than 3-14, that’s for sure.
Despite Rodgers’ poor finish Monday night — 146 passing yards and two fumble returns for touchdowns in a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild-card round — Rodgers played well enough in the regular season for the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the AFC North with a 10-7 record.
Interestingly, his passing metrics were very similar to his 2024 Jets numbers. In Pittsburgh, his Total QBR was 44.3, down by half from 44.7 in 2024. He threw for fewer yards (3,897 to 3,322) and fewer touchdowns (28 to 25) with the Steelers, and his yards-per-attempt (6.7) remained the same.
But he’s won twice as many games because of a better cast and a better coach, taking a veiled swipe at the Jets after Monday night’s loss: “There’s only a few special places in the league that have the culture and the city and the organization, and I’m thankful to have played in two of them” — a reference to the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.
He doesn’t get along with the Jets, who officially released him in March. Rodgers, 42, has not yet announced his future plans, although he said before the season that this was his last year.
For the Jets, Rodgers would provide a capable quarterback, more than what they get from Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook. The Jets finished last in passing yards (2,385) and tied for last touchdown passes (15).
Would a 6-11 or 7-10 season justify another year for Rodgers? His larger-than-life persona may have clashed with Glenn’s personality, but that cuts two ways. Rodgers’ leadership and experience could have helped the younger players.
“I would have kept him,” a senior staff official said this week. “I thought it was a mistake [to release him]. Were they a playoff game [team] with him? Probably not, but they would have won a few more games. Without him, they were evil and lost all credibility. “
Let’s take a look.
Rodgers’ presence could have changed the entire course of the season, meaning it would be over, win now. There wouldn’t be a rebuilding season with an old quarterback, so a Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trade probably wouldn’t happen.
Which means they will be in a difficult situation right now, shy of earning much money. They will be a quarterback-needy team with only four regular draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 and 2027 drafts, as opposed to eight — enough bargaining power, in theory, to target a top quarterback. The Gardner and Williams trades returned three first-round picks and a second-rounder.
They will also be delayed by dead charges from Rodgers’ contract until 2027. As it stands, he counts $28 million against the 2026 cap, but that’s where it ends. Had he been back under his contract, the Jets would have received nearly $60 million in cap space, likely spread over 2026 and 2027.
There would have been no need to sign Fields if Rodgers had stayed, so that must be included in the financial costs. It would save them $30 million (Fields’ two-year guarantee) and a chunky cap hit. If released this offseason, which is likely, Fields’ total salary would be $22 million, spread over two years. So there’s that.
Rodgers’ presence would also hamper the development of first-year quarterback Tanner Engstrand’s offense. In all likelihood, Engstrand would waive Rodgers, letting him run his offense, as previous players did in 2023 and 2024. It may have benefited them in the short term, but they will be starting over this spring.
“I think our program is in a lot of time,” Engstrand said. “There’s always going to be more, but I think we have a good foundation of what we’re trying to build as a team and as a culture in the building, and how we want to play, and what our brand is.”
It would have been kind of Rodgers if Glenn had chosen to ride with an older star – and that would have gone against Glenn’s team-building philosophy. Like his mentor, Bill Parcells, Glenn isn’t into celebrity quarterbacks; he said so.
The situation was different in Pittsburgh, where former coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down on Tuesday, built a culture so strong that he was able to absorb Rodgers’ energy.
Glenn knew when he accepted the job that he would have to make a change at quarterback, either in 2025 or 2026. He decided to take off the bandage soon.
The sting turned out to be bigger than anyone expected.
