Aaron Rodgers says he’s open to mentoring future quarterback if he stays with Jets in 2025

NEW YORK — When the Green Bay Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers was exasperated, as detailed in his docuseries “Enigma,” which premiered Tuesday on Netflix.

“I looked down at my phone and my agent just texted me, ‘Quarterback.’ And I was like, ‘No f–king way,'” Rodgers said. “Then the pick happens, and I immediately got off the couch and was super non-reactive. And I just went to pour myself some tequila and went back to the couch and knew there was going to be some interesting conversations.”

On Wednesday, Rodgers was asked if the Jets drafted his eventual replacement, how would the four-time NFL MVP handle that situation?

“A lot of the play is about performance,” Rodgers said. “When they drafted Jordan, I felt like I was one bad stretch away from being benched and I won MVP a couple of years.

“You gotta prove it every single week through stretches. If they asked me back and they drafted a guy, I would mentor the hell out of him if I was playing. And I would try to play as well as I could to keep him on the bench.”

Owner Woody Johnson and the new general manager and coach will ultimately decide whether Rodgers returns to the Jets in 2025. Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh on Oct. 8 after a 2-3 start and fired general manager Joe Douglas on Nov. 19, in the final year of his six-year contract.

After Rodgers returned from his Achilles tear, many expected the Jets to play meaningful games from late December into January. They were the favorites to win the AFC East, and many pundits believed the Jets could possibly be Super Bowl contenders.

At 4-10 with three games remaining, obviously, that won’t happen after being eliminated from playoff contention following a Week 14 loss to Miami. During the first month of the season, Rodgers dealt with a hamstring, a knee, and ankle injuries that limited his mobility. That, in turn, affected his accuracy on the field, and Rodgers couldn’t scramble around the pocket and buy time for his receivers to get open down the field.

After the Jets’ Week 4 loss to the Broncos, Johnson suggested to the coaching staff that Rodgers be benched, according to sources.

“It is hard for me to look back on that now,” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said about possibly rethinking the decision to bench Rodgers. “Because at the time he is such an elite competitor that it is like what he doesn’t get credit for enough is for his obligation and his dedication to his teammates and he wants to be out there and at the end of the day, he thinks he is the guy who can win the game for us, so saying that, he is a hard guy to sit, he really is.”

But during the following four weeks since their Week 12 bye, Rodgers has been off the Jets’ injury report and has played significantly better. In his last three games since coming off the injury report, Rodgers has passed for 813 yards, six touchdowns with only one interception. In the prior 11 games, Rodgers passed for 2,442 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

In hindsight, Rodgers still stands by playing through his injuries.

“It is a what-if game, and I don’t get into a lot of that,” he said. “I felt like I was healthy enough to play, so I played.

“That was kind of the end of the conversation there. There were games where I was more hampered and games where I felt a little bit better. Obviously, I felt a lot better the last couple of weeks.”

With the Jets playing out the final stretch of a disappointing season in which their playoff drought has extended to 14 consecutive seasons, Johnson has already begun to turn the page toward next season. Last month, Johnson hired The 33rd Team to help find candidates for both the vacant general manager and coaching positions.

With a new regime coming to the Jets, Rodgers’ future with the team remains cloudy. Gang Green does not owe Rodgers any more guaranteed money after this season.

The Jets would owe Rodgers a $35 million roster bonus that must be exercised before the start of the 2025 regular season if he remains on the team. So, if they want, the Jets can get out of his contract and start fresh with a new starter.

Rodgers told reporters he would be open to discussing a possible contract adjustment if the Jets came to him about the idea.

But the quarterback free agent market in 2025 isn’t great outside of ex-Jet and current Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold. Pittsburgh’s Justin Fields, Cleveland’s Jameis Winston, Indianapolis’ Joe Flacco, and New England’s Jacoby Brissett are among the quarterbacks who will be free agents next offseason.

The 2025 NFL Draft class also lacks depth at quarterback. Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are expected to be the first two quarterbacks selected in April’s draft. The Jets currently sit eighth in the draft order, according to Tankathon, meaning they would likely be out of the Ward and Sanders sweepstakes.

That would leave the Jets with potential quarterback draft options such as Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, or Georgia’s Carson Beck. Rodgers has repeatedly said that remaining with the Jets would be his first option if he wants to continue playing.

“There’s a lot of reasons this would be a great opportunity, but we will see what happens,” Rodgers said. “A lot of things that can happen.

“They gotta hire a GM, gotta hire a coach. Whether or not I’m part of the conversation or whether or not I’m going to move on. Whatever happens, I will be taking my time and thinking about my future.”

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