Jets fans getting ready for Super Bowl LIX on Sunday received stunning, sad news or, depending on their perspective, optimism about the future.
Hours before the final game of the next six months, ESPN, NFL Network, and other news outlets reported that Aaron Rodgers is not expected to return as the Jets’ quarterback in 2025.
The two sides met last week in New Jersey and the Jets delivered the news to Rodgers, according to Fox Sports. However, the Jets have not confirmed the report.
After the news dropped, many Jet fans expressed their displeasure with the decision to move on from Rodgers. However, it is the right decision for the Jets, coach Aaron Glenn, and general manager Darren Mougey.
Anyone who is surprised Rodgers, 41, is being released has not been paying attention. Since the Jets made changes at coach and general manager, this trended in that direction.
When considering the decision to bring back Rodgers, fans must understand it is more than just a football decision. Glenn and Mougey had to factor in the salary cap ramifications and the culture fix with the four-time NFL MVP.
Rodgers’s contract is worth $37.5 million, which is not guaranteed. He was due to count $23.5 million on the cap.
When the Jets officially release Rodgers, they will incur a $49 million salary cap hit. If they make him a June 1 designation, this hit can be spread across the next two seasons. If the Jets choose to exercise that option, Rodgers would count $14 million against the cap in 2025 and $35 million in 2026.
Releasing Rodgers will also save the organization $9.5 million next season.
Many Jets fans have mentioned that Rodgers told reporters in December that he would be willing to accept a pay cut. However, that would have still put the Jets in an even worse financial situation down the line.
Suppose Rodgers had been brought back on a pay cut, that have pushed more money to the back end of his contract. Also, a player like Rodgers would likely be insulted by taking a full pay cut after taking a $34 million one ahead of the 2023 season.
The Jets could have kept Rodgers on his current deal, but that wasn’t ideal either. They would’ve had to pay him his $35 million option bonus and a $2.5 million base salary by Week 1 of the 2025 season.
However, Rodgers’ dead cap charge for the 2026 season would have increased to $63 million, further harming the Jets’ cap situation in the future. They were projected to have around $20 million in cap space this offseason. Now that the Jets are expected to release Rodgers, they will have around $30 million and even more if they also release Davante Adams.
Releasing Adams, which is also expected, would save the Jets $29.9 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap. That would also offset the loss of $25.5 million of the loss of cap space from releasing Rodgers with the June 1 designation.
What else likely led to the decision to release Rodgers is his baggage. He does The Pat McAfee Show every week during the season along with his Netflix docuseries ‘Enigma,’ In addition to that, last season, after the Jets’ close loss to the Bills on Monday Night Football last season, Rodgers publicly criticized then-teammate Mike Williams for running the wrong route, leading to a game-sealing fourth-quarter interception.
Rogers also sparked controversy with his stance on vaccines and playing hooky from mandatory minicamp last June after taking a vacation to Egypt.
Do Glenn and the coaching staff want to deal with that while trying to establish a culture within the organization? Probably not, especially after his comments during last month’s introductory press conference.
“This thing is not about Aaron Rodgers folks, it’s about the roster,” Glenn said. “And we plan on building the best roster that we can, whatever that may be. Guard, tackle, defensive tackle, that’s what we are evaluating.
“Everybody is under a microscope, that’s just what it is. So we are going to do the best we can to make sure we build the best roster.”
In addition to the salary cap and culture, people must assess where Rodgers is football-wise at this juncture of his career. Many Jets fans will tell you Rodgers had one of the best seasons of any quarterback in franchise history after passing for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 17 games.
However, Rodgers still finished with a 48.1 Total QBR, ranked 25th out of 32 qualified NFL passers. He also engineered an offense that finished 5-12, 24th overall in yards (310.3), and 25th overall in points per game (19.9).
Rodgers’ uneven play early in the season led to Robert Saleh’s firing five games into the season, Nathaniel Hackett’s demotion, and Joe Douglas’s firing as general manager. He also struggled to find chemistry with ascending stars Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall.
Many Rodgers fans will advocate for him by saying he was only a year removed from tearing his Achilles four plays into the 2023 season. However, players his age typically don’t get better, they get worse, especially when facing players close to half his age.
Several Jets fans are unhappy with the team’s decision to release Rodgers, but you can’t fault the team for going for it. When the Jets traded for Rodgers in April 2023, the goal was to compete for a championship. That led to HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ coming to Florham Park and much attention being paid to the Jets.
The 2023 will remain one of the biggest what-ifs in Jets’ history. But insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.
After two seasons of the Rodgers era, the franchise needs to move in a new direction. What that direction is for the 2025 season and beyond, stay tuned.