We’re now in the middle of April, and Aaron Rodgers has not been traded to the New York Jets yet. The Green Bay Packers plan to move on with Jordan Love as their starter for the 2023 season, but reports came out recently that Jets owner Woody Johnson was spooked by Rodgers’ comments on the "Pat McAfee Show" that he was 90 percent retired before heading into his darkness retreat. McAfee responded to the report Thursday and explained the role of his show in the trade hold-up.
McAfee said he was surprised to hear that Johnson did not know how close Rodgers was to retirement after their extensive meeting in California this offseason. He also said it’s understandable that Rodgers considering himself to be 90 percent retired would throw a wrinkle in the Jets’ trade plans with the Packers.
McAfee understands Rodgers’ comments on the show would concern an NFL owner who doesn't want to give too much draft capital up for a player who doesn’t have a strong commitment to the team's future.
“If [Johnson] was learning that on our program, and not from those conversations, I’d say that’s an issue,” McAfee said. “Right? I would say that’d probably be a little bit of an issue.”
Rodgers did hurt the Packers’ leverage on the McAfee show
There were arguments on social media on whether Rodgers hurt the Packers’ or Jets’ leverage when he went on McAfee’s show to discuss his plans for the 2023 season. Most of the talking points at the time were about Rodgers taking shots at the Packers front office for its treatment of aging players.
However, Rodgers’ comments about how close to retirement he is/was might have hurt his trade value. While the Packers hold the deciding chess piece and the Jets need that pawn, Rodgers telegraphing the NFL world to let it know this is likely his last season isn’t going to help the Packers gain value in draft picks.
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