Longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback and four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets on April 24, 2023, for a multitude of picks. The Jets gave the Packers their 2023 first-round pick (13th overall), 2023 second-rounder (42nd overall), and a 2023 sixth-rounder (207th overall), as well as a 2024 second-round pick, which can become a first-round pick if Rodgers "plays 65% of the plays this season", per ESPN. Along with Rodgers, the Packers have given the Jets their first-round pick (15th overall) and a 2023 fifth-rounder (170th).
The long-awaited deal occurs over a month after Rodgers publicly announced his intention to play the 2023 NFL season for the New York Jets. Weeks of rumors and heavy trade talks would take place, with a deadline for the trade seemingly being placed for draft day. To most NFL fans, Rodgers was practically a New York Jet before the trade even was announced.
Rodgers, a 39-year-old QB who started 15 seasons for the Packers, had won 4 MVPs, and a Super Bowl trophy, and led Green Bay to 11 playoff appearances. Rodgers previously thought about retiring following the 2021 season, as well as this past year, infamously stowing away to a "darkness retreat" in February 2023 to decide his future. Rodgers is coming off of a down year, throwing 12 interceptions, which ESPN notes are nearly as many as he threw the three previous years combined, with 13. ESPN also explains, "He did not have a single 300-yard passing game. He had never before had a season with fewer than three 300-plus yard games." The historically talented QB is on the decline, but can still surely be a leader for the Jets.
The Jets seemed to be looking for their franchise QB this offseason, after a disastrous season from 2021 second-overall pick Zach Wilson. CBS Sports writes, "The Jets had a playoff-caliber defense in 2022, allowing 18.6 points per game (the fourth-fewest in the NFL), but their rotating cast of passers from Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco and Mike White just couldn't lift the offense high enough." Rodgers will be dealing with an above-average receiving core, in the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson, Mecole Hardman, and former Packers receiver Allen Lazard. Despite injury, second-year runningback Breece Hall will also be a big weapon for Rodgers.
Rodgers to the Jets just seemed right due to the hiring of former Packers coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as the Jets' new offensive coordinator. Hackett previously served as the Packers' OC from 2019 to 2021.
As for quarterback Zach Wilson, ESPN writes, Wilson "will remain on the roster with the hope that he will develop. One of the subplots to the shake-up is the Wilson-Rodgers dynamic. Wilson grew up idolizing Rodgers and the two have become friends." Besides Wilson, various other Jets players became excited at the finalization of the trade. The most hilarious of them all, cornerback Sauce Gardner shared an image of Rodgers when he played at Cal in college, with the caption, "#NewProfilePic".
A longtime Packers QB joining the Jets is not anything new to NFL historians. In 2008, Brett Favre, who played 16 seasons with the Packers as well as winning a sole Super Bowl and multiple MVPS, was also traded to the New York Jets for draft picks. Both QBs ending up joining the same team seems almost too good to be true, but hopefully, the Rodgers trade ends in more success than Favre's tenure there did. Favre's one season in New York ended in a 9-7 record and a lack of a playoff appearance. Favre would then sign a 2-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings in his 40s to end his career.
The Packers had already found their replacement for Rodgers in 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love, who has thrown 2 touchdowns and 606 passing yards in 10 games played. Even if Love isn't the long-term answer, he is a good young suitor for a franchise that is in transition from two veteran quarterbacks of the past, in Rodgers and Brett Favre before him. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Packers try to score another quarterback in drafts or free agency in the years ahead.
Despite his new team, Rodgers will forever be a legend in Green Bay. ESPN explains, "Rodgers leaves Green Bay as the Packers' franchise leader in touchdown passes (475), completion percentage (65.3) and passer rating (103.6) and ranks second behind only Favre in passing yards (59,055) and completions (5,001)." Rodgers' #12 will surely be retired, and his tenure with Green Bay will lead him to a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after his retirement.
Speaking of jersey numbers, Adam Schefter of ESPN has reported that Rodgers is to wear #8 with the Jets, which was his number in college at Cal. This number switch comes despite Jets legend Joe Namath offering Rodgers his retired #12.
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