Robert Saleh says Aaron Rodgers' interest in Jets shows how far team has come
Aaron Rodgers only wants to play for the New York Jets this season and the team's head coach, Robert Saleh, not only thinks that is "pretty cool," but also suggested it shows just how far the team has come over the past two years.
Saleh made those comments to NFL Network's Judy Battista this weekend at the NFL's owner meetings.
At this point it seems to only be a matter of when, and not if, the Jets and Green Bay Packers work out a deal for the future Hall of Fame quarterback. The only holdup at this point is agreeing to some sort of compensation, while both sides have their heels dug in on what that actually looks like.
There is some truth to what Saleh says about the team being further ahead than it was two years ago. But that is also setting a pretty low bar. Saleh was hired prior to the 2021 season following a 2-14 campaign by the team in 2020. In his first two years as the team's head coach the Jets have gone 11-23, including a 7-10 record this past season.
They have an outstanding defense, some promising skill position players on offense and now finally seem to have a franchise quarterback on his way in, even if it is a very short-term deal.
But how much of Rodgers' desire to play there is about progress the Jets have made, and how much of it is the simple fact he and the Packers are ready to move on and options for him are extremely limited?
Probably a combination of both factors.
For one, New York City is always going to be an attractive destination for players, so the Jets already have that factor working in their favor.
It is also worth noting that most of quarterback-needy teams are in a position this offseason to get real long-term answers at the position with top draft picks and are not going to be in the market for a 39-year-old quarterback with a massive contract. Plus, Rodgers is not going to want to play for a bad team that is far away from contention.
That left a very small group of teams that A) needed a quarterback upgrade, B) were not in a position to draft one at the top of the draft, and C) were somewhat close to contention.
That group of teams was limited mostly to New York, Las Vegas and maybe Miami had it not re-committed to Tua Tagovailoa.
So yes, the Jets have made some progress. But it is also true that Rodgers did not have a lot of serious options if he wanted to play this season outside of Green Bay.
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