Report: Aaron Rodgers “pleaded” with Jets to keep him

The Jets will move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But Rodgers reportedly didn’t want to move out.

Steve Helling and Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post report that Rodgers “pleaded” with the Jets to keep him, and that in the final conversations with the team’s new regime “aggressively urged” the franchise to give him another year, or even two.

In the end he reportedly accepted the decision “like a man going to the gallows.”

We’ve got no reason to dispute the accuracy of the report. But it sounds out of character for the coolly detached Rodgers to pivot to desperation. He just doesn’t seem like the type to ever plead or urge or walk away with his tail tucked between his legs.

Implicit in the report is that Rodgers had decided to play in 2025, at least for the Jets. The question now becomes whether he finds a match with another team that might be interested.

In the end, that’s the question. Will someone else want him? And will he want the team that wants him?

With two bad seasons tacked onto a stellar career in Green Bay, Rodgers might not want to play for the sake of playing. He might want to ensure that 2025 will be better than 2023 and 2024.

The Steelers continue to make the most sense for Rodgers. First, the Steelers have to decide that Rodgers makes sense for them. If they don’t, will he choose to play for a team with a tougher path to contention? Or will he wait for a quarterback on a high-end Super Bowl contender to suffer a season-ending injury? (Even then, said contender might not call.)

In the end, his NFL playing career might conclude the same way Bill Belichick’s NFL coaching career did. With a whimper fueled by a lack of interest that the man at the center of the discussion will find confounding, but that everyone on the outside will understand.

It’s well documented that the Aaron Rodgers experience can be exhausting. Do his skills justify the distractions? While he can still play, it’s possible that the cons now outweigh any lingering pros.