Jets QB Aaron Rodgers leaning toward playing in 2025
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL game Sunday in Glendale, Ariz. Credit: AP/Brynn Anderson
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Aaron Rodgers may still be leading the Jets’ offense next year.
Despite the way this season has gone for him and the Jets, Rodgers is leaning toward playing in 2025.
“I think so, yeah,” Rodgers said after practice Wednesday.
Rodgers is enduring arguably the worst individual season of his 20-year career and is 3-7 for the first time. That hasn’t changed his desire to continue playing.
“Not really, not for the negative, no,” he said.
Rodgers, who will turn 41 next month, is a fiery competitor and a four-time MVP. He may not want to end his Hall-of-Fame career this way. He also just reunited with his old Green Bay teammate and close friend Davante Adams four games ago. They both said they wanted to play together beyond this season.
The Jets will have final say on that. Both are signed for two more years, but neither of their contracts is guaranteed. Rodgers’ cap number for 2025 is $23.5 million.
There is so much uncertainty right now regarding who will be making the personnel decisions and whether the Jets will go all-in on a rebuild. Joe Douglas’ future as general manager is on shaky ground. Additionally, owner Woody Johnson might have a different title and not involved in the day-to-day operations. He could be appointed the Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President-elect Donald Trump. Johnson served in that role during Trump’s first presidency.
Bringing Rodgers back would be a no-brainer if he and the Jets were playing well. They have lost six of their last seven games. Rodgers has thrown 15 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. His passer rating (86.8) and quarterback rating (52.0) are the lowest since he became a starting quarterback in 2008.
“I’m not playing as well as I would have liked to play for sure,” Rodgers said. “The beauty in this game is it’s a team game. The frustrating part is if you’re a great competitor, you hold yourself to a standard. It’s not unrealistic. I haven’t reached that standard yet this year.”
The Jets were expected to contend for a playoff spot at the very least this season with Rodgers leading them. They’re not mathematically eliminated, but they can’t afford too many more losses.
Rodgers, who tore his left Achilles tendon in Week 1 last year, said his health has been a major challenge since joining the Jets. Overall, though, he’s enjoyed his experience.
“It’s been actually a really beautiful couple of years for me in totality,” Rodgers said. “But it’s obviously been frustrating with the football part.”
Rodgers said he’s trying to leave his frustration and disappointment at home before entering the Jets’ facility each day. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich praised Rodgers for doing everything he can to lead the Jets and help change things, including making suggestions in game-planning.
“He’s been 100% supportive of this entire staff and this entire team and getting this thing fixed,” Ulbrich said. “He’s trying to be a part of the solution right now. I’ve got great gratitude for that.”
Rodgers appreciates Ulbrich also. He would like Ulbrich to be his head coach with the Jets next season, if Rodgers is back.
During his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday, Rodgers spoke about NFL owners not being patient and firing coaches too soon. He said it wasn’t directed at Johnson’s firing of Robert Saleh after five games. Rodgers said he was referring to when young quarterbacks don’t live up to expectations.
However, Rodgers would not say Johnson acted too quickly or made a mistake in firing Saleh. Rodgers also refuted the notion that the coaching change hasn’t provided a spark as Johnson believed it would, and then gave Ulbrich a ringing endorsement.
“I think you’re looking at in strictly binary wins-and-losses terms,” Rodgers said. “What Brick’s done, the way that we’ve practiced I feel like there has been great changes. I feel like he’s done some really good things. I think Brick is an NFL head coach, whether it’s here moving forward or down the line. He is a leader of men and I’ll stand by him. I’d love to play for him until the end.
“I have a lot of love and respect for him. It was a tough decision because we all love Robert. In the end it's a decision way above all of our pay grades. I think everybody handled it pretty well and Brich’s done a really good job of trying to find ways to motivate the guys, to keep them together because this could have gone south. I’m not just talking about wins and losses, from a personality, cohesion standpoint as far as guys just kind of splintering and breaking off.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
