Insider again calls Jets' Aaron Rodgers a 'con artist' after Woody Johnson story

Last January, when Aaron Rodgers was recovering from the torn Achilles that cost him all but four offensive snaps of the 2023 regular season, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano noted while speaking about the New York Jets quarterback that "con artists can be very convincing." 

While an article produced by The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini and Michael Silver that was released on Thursday suggested Jets owner Woody Johnson is the biggest reason some see the franchise as "the most dysfunctional place imaginable," Graziano remains convinced Rodgers is more part of the team's problems than part of a potential solution. 

"If the effect of this story is that the organization decides that, 'Well it could be worse. Aaron Rodgers isn’t so bad because look at all this other goofiness that’s going on above him,' then the Jets are in bigger trouble than I thought," Graziano said during Friday's edition of the ESPN Radio "Unsportsmanlike" program, as shared by Ben Axelrod of Awful Announcing. "Because Aaron Rodgers is a con artist. He is a narcissist. He is self-absorbed to the absolute maximum. And if he has you fooled — again — that’s on you."

Rodgers was blamed this past summer for "the vibe" inside the Jets' building being "terrible" before Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas during the season. The future Hall of Famer seemed to turn the clock back when he passed for 628 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions over his past two games, but ESPN stats show that the 4-10 Jets will enter this weekend ranked 25th in the league with an average of 307.0 offensive yards gained per contest. 

It's unclear if the Jets' yet-to-be-hired general manager and next head coach will ask Rodgers to return for another season. Previous stories indicated Johnson wants to move on from Rodgers, and the veteran hinted on Wednesday that he could be released at some point before the new league year opens in March. 

"If the Jets go back to Aaron Rodgers next year, they deserve what they get and it will not be good. Like, they know this," Graziano added. "They’ve lived it for the last two years. This is not the answer. If some team wants to do that, too bad for them. But if the team that it just happened to wants it to happen to them again, then that’s — there’s no fixing that. That’s just dumb."

Earlier this week, Rodgers was linked with the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans. Graziano believes those teams and every other franchise should force the 41-year-old to ride off into the sunset of retirement, even if he wants to continue playing.