What does the elimination mean for the Jets present and future
When the New York Jets opened up the Aaron Rodgers practice window to return from injured reserve, the quarterback said his potential return would depend on two factors: his own health and the Jets playoff hopes. "It's always been first, am I healthy?" Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. "Then, are we in it? […]
When the New York Jets opened up the Aaron Rodgers practice window to return from injured reserve, the quarterback said his potential return would depend on two factors: his own health and the Jets playoff hopes.
"It's always been first, am I healthy?" Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. "Then, are we in it? Are we playing good enough to make a run? Can I step in and protect myself and play the level that I feel like I'm capable of playing? Can I protect myself? Can I move around the way I want to move around?"
Maybe Rodgers could return, but now the Jets are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after an embarrassing 30-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins. So the quarterback's first season in New York is over after just four offensive snaps.
Now, everything is about 2024. But that doesn't mean things are clear.
Staff question marks
The Jets fired Mike LaFleur after last season, but the offense wasn't any better this year under Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets are 32nd in offensive DVOA, and that was the unit which killed the Jets chances — they are 3rd on defense and 4th on special teams.
"You put together the best plan possible. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said after Sunday's game. "But overall, just from coaching to execution, all of it on the offensive side just wasn't good enough."
However, Hackett is extremely close to Aaron Rodgers. If the quarterback is given the choice, he will probably want him back next year. On the other hand, most of the staff and personnel decisions that the Jets made trying to appease Rodgers went wrong (Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Hackett).
Will Rodgers have the same power next year? And if he doesn't, will he want to come back after that was his big reason to leave Green Bay?
Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas aren't without fault either. They built this team, a team that can't function without Rodgers. And if the quarterback is 40 years old coming off a major injury, it's far from a guarantee that he alone will be able to overcome everything that has gone badly.
A new coaching staff and front office could take the team to a new direction, but does it make sense? Does Rodgers want it? Is it better to fire such a good defensive mind when it's clear that the offense is the problem? Those are all tough questions to answer.
Rodgers contract situation
When Aaron Rodgers signed a revised deal with the Jets before the season, the idea was clear: the team and the quarterback wanted to maximize the short-term window. Rodgers took a paycut, getting $37.5 million per year, while the Jets structured the contract in a way to create more cap room.
But that doesn't mean the deal is cheap, and that the future won't be hindered by it. Rodgers' cap hit this year is $8.88 million, lower than Zach Wilson's.
However, the hit goes up to $17.161 million in 2024. They can (and probably will) restructure his contract again, reducing his hit to a number as low as $10.7 million and creating more space for 2024. But that will add to future problems. Rodgers' cap hit is slated to be $51.5 million in 2025, and there's also $35 million in dead money in 2026, when Rodgers becomes a free agent. With the restructure, those numbers would go up.
Draft
When the Jets finalized the Aaron Rodgers trade with the Packers, they swapped first-round picks in 2023, and the Jets also sent a 2023 second-rounder and a conditional 2024 first. But Rodgers didn't reach 65% of the offensive snaps, so the Jets will send only a second-rounder to Green Bay.
At this moment, the Jets are getting the sixth overall pick. Depending on who the general manager is, could they take a quarterback of the future? Maybe, the smartest path is to take an offensive player (be it a receiver or an offensive tackle) to help Rodgers now and a new quarterback down the road.
The 2023 season went as bad as it could possibly have gone for the Jets. Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas aren't as firm on their jobs anymore, and the franchise will have difficult and decisive questions to answer before Rodgers takes another snap.
Jets are wasting Garrett Wilson with terrible offense
Garrett Wilson is a rare talent. He is a true, bona fide number one receiver in the NFL. He is also being wasted by the New York Jets. Wilson ended the 30-0 loss against the Miami Dolphins with three receptions on only four targets for a measly 29 yards. The Jets couldn’t manage anything offensively […]
