Aaron Rodgers Sweepstakes: Where Will the Future Hall of Famer Play in 2023?
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are that couple everyone knows needs to break up, but they stay together because it’s easier. They’ve met each other’s families. They know each other’s routines. They’ve gotten past that awkward “pooping in front of each other” stage. But it’s over, and it’s time for both to move on.
The Packers have their eye on a new relationship. They’ve cultivated it. They’re ready for life after Aaron with Jordan Love in the starring role after drafting him in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. After sitting for three seasons and learning, Love is ready. And the Packers are ready to move on from Rodgers.
Many articles will be penned about why the Rodgers/Green Bay relationship failed—and they’ll sound a lot like the Brett Favre/Green Bay articles from 2008 after Rodgers was drafted in the first round and sat for three seasons behind a future Hall of Famer. But we’re not here for that. We’re here to lay out the best and most likely landing spots for Rodgers.
1. New York Jets — The Jets need Rodgers more than Rodgers needs the Jets, and the team has made moves to make the landing spot more attractive—both intentionally and unintentionally.
First, the Jets hired Rodgers’ good friend Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator after firing Matt LaFleur—brother of Green Bay Packers’ head coach Mike. It’s a tangled-web, but hiring Hackett was done with an eye on getting Rodgers to town as much as it was done to improve the play of third-year quarterback Zach Wilson in 2023.
Speaking of Wilson, it should be noted that he and Rodgers are close and speak often. If the Jets want to bring in a veteran to boost the team’s chances in 2023 and to continue to develop Wilson, Rodgers is the best option.
And to the unintentional—the Jets have a really good young nucleus of talent on offense. Garrett Wilson is a future star at wide receiver. Same for Breece Hall at running back. Even wideouts Elijah Moore and Denzel Mims have promise if they can build chemistry with a quarterback.
The Jets’ ability to offer a ton of draft capital is limited, though. The team currently has pick No. 13 in the first round but only six selections overall. It would likely take draft picks spread across two years to land Rodgers.