Aaron Rodgers has confirmed that he plans to play for the New York Jets, but he says there are things that have been reported about the situation that are inaccurate. More specifically, the star quarterback has a bone to pick with ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Rodgers on Wednesday told “The Pat McAfee Show” that he intends to join the Jets but the Green Bay Packers are holding things up with the compensation package they want in return for him. He also addressed the report from ESPN’s Dianna Russini that Rodgers has given the Jets a wish list of players to pursue in free agency.
That report, which was backed up by Schefter, clearly angered Rodgers. The four-time MVP said both Schefter and Russini tracked down his number and reached out to him. Rodgers ignored Russini but said he told Schefter, “Lose my number, nice try.”
The story checks out. Schefter tweeted a screenshot of the text message from Rodgers:
Rodgers complained that the report made it sound like he handed the Jets a sheet of paper and demanded that they sign certain players. He admitted that he spoke highly of Allen Lazard (whom the Jets signed) and others, but he said no demands were made.
Russini specifically said Rodgers gave the Jets a “wish list.” She even noted that it may not have been a situation where Rodgers told the team they had to sign those players if they want him to agree to a trade, but she said the Jets were working to acquire players that Rodgers wants to play with. That is basically how Rodgers described the situation, so the report sounds like it was accurate.
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