Insider expands on Jets’ Aaron Rodgers plans for 2025 

It was reported after New York Jets owner Woody Johnson fired general manager Joe Douglas that the Jets were ready to move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers this offseason in part because Johnson felt that Rodgers “is not good anymore.”

Following New York’s 26-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks that dropped Gang Green to 3-9 on the season, NFL/Jets insider Connor Hughes of SNY explained why Rodgers “doesn’t factor into” the club’s long-term plans beyond Week 18.

“They wanted a fresh start at general manager, head coach and quarterback,” Hughes said about the Jets. “While Rodgers expressed his desire to return (depending on who the new general manager and head coach were), the Jets questioned whether or not Rodgers could take them where they wanted to go. Rodgers, for maybe the first time in a decade, needed to convince his team to keep him as their quarterback. That was supposed to start this Sunday, and he failed.”

As The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt noted, Rodgers produced what may go down as his worst performance with the Jets versus the Seahawks. The future Hall of Famer completed 21-of-39 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that was taken to the house for a score. He once again missed open receivers on multiple occasions, and Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams said after the contest that he thinks Rodgers is now “an older guy” who simply “doesn’t want to take big hits” at this point of his life. 

According to ESPN stats, Rodgers began Monday ranked 25th in the NFL with a 48.5 adjusted QBR for the season. Meanwhile, the Jets are 26th in the league with an average of 18.8 points scored per game. 

Perhaps Rodgers will convince Johnson, a new general manager and a new head coach that the knee, ankle and hamstring issues he’s dealt with this fall are to blame for his play. However, Hughes indicated that “it’s becoming clear [Rodgers] might not finish the year” in the lineup and could be replaced by backup Tyrod Taylor before the Jets play at the 5-7 Miami Dolphins on Sunday. 

The Jets can afford to release Rodgers when the new league year opens in March, and logic suggests he’d probably want to move on from the club if he’s benched before the end of the season. While more questions than answers regarding the Jets’ future hover over the franchise as of the start of December, it certainly seems like the team’s Rodgers experiment unofficially ended at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.