Aaron Rodgers instant connection to Titans: the good news, and the truth about how likely it is the veteran QB lands in Nashville
Titans good news and Titans fake news surrounding Aaron Rodgers
Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, it was announced that the New York Jets' new regime would be moving on from the Aaron Rodgers experience in 2025. FOX's Jay Glazer reported that Rodgers flew to New Jersey last week and was told new Head Coach Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey would be releasing him.
It's not at all shocking to learn the Jets fresh-start coaching staff and front office wants to move on from the Aaron Rodgers Jets years. Nothing went according to plan, everybody was miserable, and a ton of people lost their jobs because of it.
This of course sparked a serious Tennessee Titans reaction, as this news led many to wonder if Nashville could be the next landing spot for the future Hall of Famer.
There are two important angles to this development: one good news for the Titans, and the other fake news for the Titans. Let's break down both of them.
The Good News
Yes, everybody wants to talk about the possibility of Rodgers landing in Tennessee. We'll get to that next. But first… while it makes complete sense the Jets wanted to move on from Rodgers before this season, what exactly is their plan at QB now?
Lost in the relief over the end of Gang Green Rodgers is the fact that the Jets may very well be in the worst position to figure out QB in 2025 of any team in the league. What are their options?
They could try to compete in the Sam Darnold sweepstakes, though they're currently slated to have just over $8M in cap space and aren't anywhere near the same tax bracket as the Titans, Giants, and Raiders of the league. They could hope for a longshot trade to come together for Matthew Stafford or Derek Carr, but good luck with that. They could target a lesser free agent QB like Jameis Winston or Justin Fields, which kind of feels like their most realistic option at the moment. Or I suppose they could even stick with Tyrod Taylor, who was with them as Rodgers' backup last year.
The situation is grim. So where's this Titans good news? It's the fact that because of these dire straights the Jets are in, it's impossible not to lump them into the potential rookie QB sweepstakes along with the Browns, Giants, Raiders, and Titans ahead of them. They have the 7th pick, so their trade package to go up to get one of the rookies would be the most expensive of anybody in that group. But going from 7 to 1, 2, or 3 isn't impossible. We've seen bigger jumps before.
And the Titans are absolutely shopping their 1st overall pick. Are they for sure going to trade it to the highest bidder? No. Are they already out on drafting either of the top 2 QBs? Definitely not. Titans brass wasn't kidding when they said they don't want to pass on a great player at the top of the draft, whether that's a QB or another position. But they also were very serious when they said they'd like to have around 12 top-100 picks in the next three cycles. And there's only one reasonable way to do that: by splitting the value of picks like this one.
The best way to put it right now is probably like this: a top priority for the Titans in the next month or so is to see what they could fetch for the 1st overall pick. And adding the Jets into the mix of teams desperate for QB only helps drives the bidding up.
The Fake News
Alright, now the big question: will Rodgers be headed to Tennessee? If the Titans do choose to trade down in the draft, they'll have to have a veteran QB option lined up for it to make any sense, right?
Almost certainly, yes. And Rodgers has connections to Tennessee that make this make some sense on the surface. For starters, he's going to want a starting job somewhere, assuming he plays again next season. The Titans are one of the few teams that could guarantee him that. He also famously has property in the area, and is a fan of the great state of Tennessee. Listen to what he had to say about the area on Pat McAfee in December:
The Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker is also a connection, as he worked for the Packers during the height of prime Aaron Rodgers. Though I don't know if that's as positive a connection to Tennessee as people make it out to be… the people who know Aaron the most may be the ones with the most sober, realistic expectations of him at this point.
And that steers us in the direction of the reality here: Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan is not going down with the Rodgers ship, full stop. That isn't the way he's going to go out.
Yes, Rodgers is a first ballot Hall of Famer. And yes the Titans options at QB aren't incredibly diverse. But we've all seen how this just played out in New York. The Rodgers experience gets people fired. It went as poorly with the Jets as it could have gone. Tennessee is a team that's trying to establish a semblance of stability and serious culture right now. Callahan and his staff are all coaching for their jobs this year. They have very little margin for error. Injecting Aaron Rodgers into that equation is borderline suicidal. Could it potentially work? I suppose it could. But think of the laundry list of ways it could go absolutely terribly. It's not going to happen if Callahan has a say in the matter.
Maybe if Rodgers suddenly humbles himself to act as the bridge for the Titans rookie QB they take at 1st overall, then technically this entire article is incorrect. Or maybe the Titans front office couldn't care less about Callahan and Callahan's staff's wishes, and have unemployment wishes of their own. Never say never!
Aside from those bizarre timelines, however, Titans fans shouldn't hold their breath… or perhaps, they should rest easy… knowing the Aaron Rodgers train won't be coming to town in 2025.
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