Schefter Says the Jets are in "a One Horse Race" for Aaron Rodgers, Amid Reports the Packers are 'Pointed Toward' Life with Jordan Love
Needless to say, it's a hell of a thing when practically the entire front office of an NFL team flies across the continent to meet for 11 hours with a player, and the media monitors the progress of the flight like it's 1969 and Apollo 11 is splashing down:
But such is life when that franchise is the Jets and that player is Aaron Rodgers.
So it's only natural that ESPN would turn its eyes to Adam Schefter to get the word on the street. And it was a classic Schefty report. Full of qualifiers, caveats, "if"s, and "nobody can say for certain"s, because he hasn't spent decades couching everything in uncertainties just to giving definitive statements now. But he did seem to firmly confirm one thing. The Raiders are out on Rodgers and now it's all up to the Jets:
A point which has been confirmed by Peter King:
Of course it's entirely reasonable to ask about the Packers, given the no small matter that Rodgers is under contract to them and all. But according to one report, Green Bay wants to be done with him once and for all:
Source - [The Packers] have basically lowered the curtain on an era.
And they’re ready to unveil Jordan Love.
The Packers, you see, are not just planning for the possibility Love will be their new starting quarterback in 2023, they’re pretty much counting on it, per a league source.
“Anything can still happen,” a Green Bay source told OutKick on Tuesday night. “But look around. We are pointed in a certain direction now.”
If true, there would just be so much to process here it would take a thousand blogs.
Injuries aside, Green Bay had has just two QB1s for the last 30 seasons. If they switch to Jordan Love now, then the guy they drafted with the 24th pick in 2005 to eventually replace Brett Favre, will himself finally be replaced by the guy they took with the 26th pick in 2020.
For their part, the Jets will be shelving the quarterback they used the No. 2 pick on two drafts ago to be their Franchise QB, in favor of someone 13 years older. Or, possibly including Zach Wilson in the trade with Green Bay. Either way, that's an admission of failure of monumental proportions after two seasons and just 22 starts. But with their fans desperate for yet another hope to cling to in an endless series of them, even one season of Rodgers would be something to generate some sort of interest.
As for Rodgers, he'll be going from America's most celebrated small town to its biggest media market. From a franchise that treats its players like demigods, to one that has been crushing their will to live for the better part of the last five decades. But at this point, according to Schefter and King, these are his only two choices. And according to an anonymous alleged source from within the Packers organization, they've already tossed the keys to Love and made him their designated driver. For perhaps the next 15 years if it goes right.
It certainly sounds like it's entirely in Rodgers hands now. And he might be heading to New York by the time you're reading this. If so, we're all in for one of the wildest offseasons of all time. Don't go anywhere.