Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh speaking with an official during an NFL game.
The New York Jets got called out on national television this week.
Former Super Bowl champion and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark put Gang Green on blast this week during an episode of Get Up:
“Nathaniel Hackett is actually terrible at coaching, he’s terrible at managing an offense, he’s terrible at decision making, but now let’s bring him to the Jets. Now we’re going to ask that guy to be the offensive coordinator in New York which is the worst place to be anything and not be good at it. Just because he might get Aaron Rodgers?
Understanding what it is going to take to get Aaron Rodgers to be the quarterback of your team and watching Rodgers play last year without Davante Adams and thinking that’s going to be the guy that is going to come and be the savior of this team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl in I don’t know how dang long?
I’m going to tell you, y’all don’t want Aaron Rodgers, y’all don’t need Aaron Rodgers, and if you went and got Nathaniel Hackett so you could get Aaron Rodgers that’s a stupid hire. This is not the way to go.”
.@Realrclark25 said if #Jets brought in Nathaniel Hackett to land #Packers QB Aaron Rodgers ‘that’s a stupid hire’ 😳 + ‘y’all don’t want Rodgers, y’all don’t need Rodgers’ + questioned A-Rod’s resume winning only 1 #SuperBowl in 18 years: 🎥 @GetUpESPN #TakeFlight #GoPackGo
Ryan Clark Has Presented a Problem With No Solution for Jets
Ryan Clark has a Super Bowl ring on his finger, he was a part of an organization that has won six Super Bowl championships (Pittsburgh Steelers), and he knows what it takes to win the big one.
The former Pro Bowl defender strongly doesn’t believe Rodgers is the answer to the Jets’ woes.
“Go get the best quarterback you can possibly get for your team and you want him to have the best offensive coordinator,” Clark explained on Get Up. “So if you’re doing all of this for a quarterback that in his great career, who is absolutely phenomenal, has won one Super Bowl, been to one Super Bowl, then you’re doing it the wrong way.”
However, if Clark is advocating for the Jets to “go get the best quarterback” they possibly can, then Rodgers appears to be the very clear answer to that question.
While his resume may only feature a single championship it sure as heck includes a lot of other impressive accolades:
- Four NFL MVP awards
- 10 Pro Bowls
- Led league in passer rating four times
- Led league in passing touchdowns twice
Rodgers is unquestionably one of the best quarterbacks of this generation and a likely first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Aaron Rodgers Is Worth the Risk for the Jets
If the Jets acquire Aaron Rodgers it is going to hurt.
Gang Green will take on a large portion of his remaining $150 million contract. As Zack Rosenblatt recently noted for The Athletic, “it will take significant draft capital to acquire Rodgers: at least one first-round pick, and likely more.”
Annual tweet that paying elite quarterbacks is actually very good and wise
For the majority of the Jets’ history, they have gotten away with roster construction that hasn’t featured a big salary at the quarterback position.
That plan has failed miserably.
This offseason the Jets have a chance to acquire a difference-making quarterback that could put the team over the top. Is there a chance it can fail? Absolutely, nothing is guaranteed in the NFL.
However, this Jets team has a motivated owner, a front office on the edge of its seat, and a young core of talent that is waiting to be maximized.
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.