No time to sleep when your franchise hasn’t made the playoffs in a decade. The Jets want Aaron Rodgers and spent every waking hour convincing him to come to NY.
The New York Jets’ infatuation with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is getting a little out of control.
On Tuesday, the Jets reportedly flew a private jet out to meet with Rodgers in California, sending their top dogs to negotiate a potential blockbuster deal. Based on the premise that the Packers gave permission to the Jets to speak with their quarterback, the framework of a trade package is likely already in place.
Woody Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett were among the Jets’ brass on that plane, spending the entire day courting the veteran quarterback.
Jets owner Woody Johnson’s private plane departed from LAX at 11:26 p.m. PST bound for New York after almost 11 hours in Southern California and a day courting Aaron Rodgers.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) March 8, 2023
Disillusioned Jets fans may have their own polarizing takes on New York’s coaching staff and questionable franchise decisions of years past, but even they can’t deny that that’s extreme commitment. Like Joe Goldberg obsessive stalker levels of commitment.
Aaron Rodgers gets top-of-the-line celebrity treatment from NY Jets
Did Johnson and others also roll out a red carpet for Rodgers wherever he walked? Did they whisper seducing phrases like “You can win us playoff games” into his ear?
As the Jets’ coaches head home to the Big Apple to wash off the stench of desperation, they can look back at their day’s worth of wooing Rodgers and think to themselves that, no matter what happens now, they did their best.
Ever since the start of the offseason, it’s no secret that the Packers quarterback has been the Jets’ most wanted man. New York didn’t even try to cover up their obsession with Rodgers in 2023, immediately zeroing in on him as their answer (short-term, at least) to their franchise quarterback woes.
And they waited. New York waited for Rodgers to go through his darkness retreat, waiting for him for so long that Derek Carr felt slighted and took himself out of the running.
After Carr signed with the New Orleans Saints this past week, the Jets decided to stop waiting and make a move, traveling thousands of miles and spending hours doting on their precious veteran target. If the Jets’ shameless courtship actually works, if Rodgers, the attention-monger and unconventional persona that he is, decides he wants to try a one-year fling with New York, the pursuit just might have been worth it.
