Aaron Rodgers is out as the New York Jets’ quarterback, ending a very disappointing two-year tenure with him as the face of the franchise.
While he may still have some game left, he is clearly over the hill, and with new head coach Aaron Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey in place, it is time for the Jets to turn the page and experience a clean start.
Willie Colon, a former Jets right guard, knows New York did the right thing by moving on from Rodgers, and he noted that Rodgers’ body may be starting to betray him, per WFAN Sports Radio.
“He had a hamstring, he had a knee, he had an ankle, and there were reports that his hip was starting to nag him,” Willie Colon said. “You need a new start.”
The Jets traded four draft picks for Rodgers in April 2023, and while some thought they had serious Super Bowl potential, Rodgers promptly tore his Achilles in his first offensive series with them and missed the rest of the season.
He managed to stay healthy this season, and although his numbers — 3,897 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns — were solid, he wasn’t quite his old self.
Despite possessing plenty of talent on both sides of the football, New York won just five games and missed the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, and they lost seven games by seven points or fewer.
Then there is the matter of Rodgers’ perceived outsized influence on team decisions, which critics claim led to the firing of former head coach Robert Saleh and former general manager Joe Douglas this past fall.
The franchise will have the No. 7 pick in April’s draft, as well as a limited amount of salary cap space, that it can use to move forward as they look to end the longest playoff drought in the NFL.
