Has Aaron Rodgers changed mind about emulating Tom Brady?

Back in the summer of 2022, current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers chuckled at the idea that he could follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and continue playing beyond his 45th birthday.

Rodgers turned 40 this past December and suggested during an appearance on the "Look Into It" podcast that he's having second thoughts about his previous stance after he lost just about all of the 2023 season to the torn Achilles he suffered on Sept. 11. 

"[I've] really been in a good place rehab-wise from the start and [I'm] feeling really good," Rodgers explained during the interview, as shared by Ryan Sanudo of The Sun and Marca. "I'm hopeful I can play two, three or four more years."

Rodgers acknowledged that he will "need to have some good fortune" to reach such a lofty goal. That comment is somewhat significant considering fate hasn't been too kind to his body over the past couple of years. 

While with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand in Week 5 of the 2022 season. He was later knocked out of a Week 12 game because of an injury to his ribs. More recently, the future Hall of Famer experienced multiple calf-related setbacks while training with the Jets last offseason before he went down with a torn Achilles just four offensive snaps into the 2023 regular-season opener.

Rodgers showed he's a team player last summer when he accepted a significant pay cut to help the Jets build around him through the 2024 campaign. However, former Gang Green quarterback and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason hinted as recently as last week that team owner Woody Johnson could look to part ways with Rodgers, general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh if New York doesn't end the longest active playoff drought among the four major North American sports leagues in January 2025. 

When Rodgers said in January 2023 that "money is energy" and he had already "made a ton of it," many assumed he'd only play either for the Packers or one other organization of his choosing before his retirement. It remains to be seen how he'd react if Johnson blew things up next winter following what would, in such a scenario, likely have to be yet another disappointing season for the Jets.