Former NFL DB torches Jets' Aaron Rodgers after firing of Robert Saleh

Numerous members of the NFL community continue to believe that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was directly or indirectly responsible for team owner Woody Johnson firing head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.

During Friday's edition of the ESPN "Get Up" program, former NFL defensive back and current analyst Ryan Clark ripped Rodgers for not being what the Jets needed him to be as they fell to 2-3 on the season. 

"Aaron Rodgers has every physical tool to have been the greatest quarterback to have played this game," Clark said during the segment, as Tzvi Machlin of The Spun shared. "There is something that he is missing in his intangible DNA that makes him devoid of great leadership and makes him devoid of being able to elevate locker rooms. That's what we're seeing in New York."

Rodgers earned four regular-season Most Valuable Player Awards and cemented himself as a future first-ballot Hall of Famer with the Green Bay Packers from 2005 through the 2022 season. However, he guided the Packers to only one Super Bowl championship during his Green Bay tenure, and the StatMuse website shows he holds a career record of 1-4 in career NFC Championship starts. 

Rodgers insisted earlier this week he had nothing to do with Johnson showing Saleh the door. Even if that's the case, it seems like Rodgers' play coming off the torn Achilles he suffered in September 2023 sealed Saleh's fate after just five games this season. 

According to ESPN stats, Rodgers heads this weekend ranked 21st in the NFL among qualified players with a 49.5 adjusted QBR and tied for 11th with seven touchdown passes on the campaign. Johnson likely expected more when the Jets landed Rodgers from the Packers in the spring of 2023. 

Clark proposed that Rodgers shouldn’t be placed in the same tier as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning when discussing all-time great quarterbacks since those two legends retired with multiple Super Bowl titles. There's still time for Rodgers to help the 2024 Jets turn things around under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, but it sounds like Clark believes New York fans should prepare themselves for more disappointment over the next few months.