The Green Bay Packers traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Jets will receive the four-time MVP, a 2023 first-round pick (No. 15 overall), and a fifth-round pick from the Packers in exchange for their 2023 first-rounder (No. 13 overall), a second-round pick, and a conditional 2024 second-round pick that can become a first if Rodgers plays 65% of the team’s snaps next season.
The Packers and Jets recently resumed discussion on the blockbuster swap after talks went dormant in recent weeks.
Rodgers said that he intended to play for the Jets next season during an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show” in March.
Rodgers, 39, said that he needed time after the 2022 season to weigh his future. He went on a darkness retreat in February and admitted that he was strongly leaning toward retiring instead of returning for his 19th season.
Green Bay made a 180-degree turn following his retreat, according to Rodgers, switching from wanting him to return to looking to move on from the team’s longtime signal-caller.
Rodgers has spent his entire career with Green Bay while constructing one of the most prolific passing careers in league history. He has been named a first-team All-Pro in four different seasons and was key in winning Super Bowl XLV. He leaves the Packers as the franchise’s all-time leader with 59,055 passing yards and 475 touchdowns.
Rodgers considered retirement following the 2021 season before signing a three-year, $150-million extension with Green Bay in March 2022. The star passer is owed $54.4 million in guaranteed salary in 2023, according to Over the Cap, and the Jets are expected to convert Rodgers’ contract for cap purposes, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
General manager Brian Gutekunst insists that the Packers are not looking to go through a rebuild after dealing away their star quarterback.
“There’s one goal here every single year, no matter what,” Gutekunst said Monday, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “And just like it was back the last time we moved on from one quarterback to the other, right? The goals are the same.”
New York bolstered its offense this offseason after averaging 17.4 points and 318.2 total yards per game in 2022. The Jets missed the postseason for the 12th consecutive year and have been busy during free agency, signing receivers Mecole Hardman and Allen Lazard. They’ll join 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson to form a revamped receiving corps.
The Jets land their franchise signal-caller following a 2022 campaign in which they started three different quarterbacks. New York also changed offensive coordinators this offseason, moving on from Mike LaFleur and hiring former Packers assistant Nathaniel Hackett.
Green Bay is expected to turn its offense over to Jordan Love. The 2020 first-round pick has started one game, passing for 606 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions in his career.
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