The New York Jets were hoping all of their quarterback woes would disappear when they acquired Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers last offseason. After years of ineptitude at the position, Rodgers’ arrival brought hope and optimism as some people believed the Jets were Super Bowl contenders.
That hope quickly disappeared after Rodgers was injured on his fourth play from scrimmage. An Achilles injury caused him to miss the remainder of the season, pushing Zach Wilson back into the starting spot. Not surprisingly, the Jets offense was a disaster after that.
While the Jets season went down the drain, Rodgers’ former team, the Packers, thrived. They took a major risk moving on from him and turning the offense over to Jordan Love, a 2020 first-round pick out of Utah State. While there were a few hiccups along the way, Green Bay looks set at quarterback for years to come.
Love was outstanding, going on a tear late in the season to help the Packers get into the playoffs. Green Bay then dismantled the Dallas Cowboys 48-32, becoming the first No. 7 seed in NFL history to advance to the divisional round.
Despite having the youngest roster in the NFL, and no wide receivers with more than one year of NFL experience, Love and the Packers offense was quite productive. That has led to one NFL analyst questioning Rodgers’ decision to leave the team.
Colin Cowherd, on a recent segment of his show, The Herd on FS1 and Fox Sports, called out Rodgers and his decision on wanting to play for the Jets. He questioned the IQ of the future Hall of Famer during the segment.
“Aaron’s football IQ isn’t very high… Was it delusion or just narcissism and hubris?” Cowherd said on his show, via X.
If Rodgers could, would he undo his trade demands and want to stick with the Packers and not commit to the Jets? Given the relationship between the two sides, it is more likely that Rodgers would have opted for retirement.
However, the point Cowherd is making about Rodgers’ thought process for joining the Jets is valid. Other veterans who wanted a change of scenery late in their career — Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford Cowherd used as examples — made smart decisions and thought things out.
Rodgers, on the other hand, didn’t seem to do that. Not only did he jump to the tougher conference, but he left behind a smart offensive coach and strong offensive line with the Packers to join a Jets team with a defensive-minded head coach with a bad record and a makeshift offensive line.
Cowherd made a lot of good points calling out the thought process for Rodgers joining the Jets. Not only were the results through Year 1 disastrous, but the process and choices can be argued as being worse.
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