Aaron Rodgers among Giants' quarterback options, source says
Aaron Rodgers of the Jets looks on after a game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 5, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac
INDIANAPOLIS — Forced to move on to other options in their search for a veteran quarterback after first choice Matthew Stafford agreed to return to the Rams on a restructured contract Friday, the Giants immediately turned their attention to other possibilities . . . including one very familiar in the New York area.
Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback from whom the Jets announced they are moving on after two disappointing seasons with them, will be among the options explored by the Giants, a source told Newsday.
He won’t be the only one, and the Giants do not yet have a sense of where Rodgers eventually will rank on their shopping list, but the potential of the future Hall of Famer switching locker rooms at MetLife Stadium certainly created a palpable buzz in the NFL community and local market.
It’s also unclear whether Rodgers wants to continue playing (he has yet to confirm that publicly) or if he would consider the Giants as a destination. There were reports this week that he preferred to sign with the Rams — he has a home in Malibu — but the Stafford agreement there left both him and the Giants out in the cold.
Other options that are sure to intrigue the Giants, assuming they hit the free-agency market, will include Sam Darnold (also a former Jet), Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson. The 49ers might move on from Brock Purdy, which would give the Giants another possible route.
If the Giants are comfortable drafting a rookie to start in 2025, some other choices as a veteran in the position room could include the likes of Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston or Joe Flacco.
Rodgers, though, is the glitziest name on the list simply because of his recent history with the crosstown team and his national profile.
Rodgers has yet to be formally released by the Jets, so any overtures the Giants would want to make toward him or his representatives would have to be cleared by the Jets first.
The four-time MVP threw for 28 touchdowns and 3,897 yards with only 11 interceptions in 2024, but the Jets won only five games.
Although Rodgers was more productive toward the end of the season once he recovered from some early nagging injuries, his entire season raised questions about whether he is capable of remaining healthy enough to play at that high level for an entire season at age 41. He missed all but four snaps of the 2023 season, his first with the Jets, after suffering an Achilles tear.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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