New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich hinted earlier this week that Aaron Rodgers will remain the club’s starting quarterback through the end of the season even though the 3-9 team will likely soon be eliminated from playoff contention.
For an article published Wednesday morning, NFL insider Dan Graziano of ESPN suggested Jets owner Woody Johnson wants Rodgers out of the building so much that the club could essentially push the future Hall of Famer out the door before Week 18 arrives.
“I still wouldn’t be surprised to see the Jets bench him or move on before the end of this season,” Graziano said about Rodgers. “I’ll eat one of my socks if Rodgers is starting for the Jets next season.”
Rodgers has largely looked like a player past his prime coming off the torn Achilles that cost him all but four offensive snaps of the 2023 regular season.
Per Pro Football Reference, the 41-year-old began Wednesday ranked 27th in the NFL among qualified players with a 48.2 adjusted QBR, 24th with an 87.5 passer rating and 29th with a 62.5 percent completion percentage for the ongoing campaign. According to ESPN stats, the Jets head into Week 14 ranked 31st overall in total offense (291.3 yards per game).
Johnson dismissed head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas during the season. Multiple reports have since said Johnson wants “a fresh start at general manager, head coach and quarterback” next year.
“A head coach and a GM have lost their jobs because they tied themselves to [Rodgers] and built the entire team around the idea that [he] would be the difference,” Graziano explained. “He has been the difference but completely opposite of what they expected and hoped. The team is terrible. The team culture is either terrible or nonexistent.”
That last point is interesting, as former Jets quarterback and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason said in November that he felt the team’s locker room was “completely fractured,” at least in part because of Rodgers’ presence and poor play.
It is worth noting that ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler added in Wednesday’s piece that the Jets could “hire a head coach who has an affinity for Rodgers or likes him over a draft-and-develop situation or bridge free-agent alternatives.” Bill Belichick thinks Rodgers has something left in the tank, but few believe Belichick would even consider accepting a call from Johnson for multiple reasons.
