Getty New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacting in the middle of an NFL game.
Aaron Rodgers spent 18 years with the Green Bay Packers from 2005 through 2022. Not once did Green Bay ever select a wide receiver or tight end in the first round of the NFL draft.
The New York Jets have a chance to make some history with A-Rod on Thursday, April 25.
Rich Cimini of ESPN revealed that Georgia tight end Brock Bowers “is the odds-on favorite” to get the call from the Jets on draft day at pick No. 10 “according to ESPN draft experts.”
Cimini also added that he’s hearing, “The Jets could pick a wide receiver in the unlikely event that one of the top three falls to 10.”
If either Bowers or one of the wideouts ended up being the pick, it would be the first time a team that Rodgers was employed by has ever done that.
Jets Can Hit Two Birds With One Stone on Draft Day
Things didn’t end amicably between Rodgers and the Packers. Now he’s with the Jets and things are different.
Rodgers admitted that when he was initially traded to the Jets he thought it would only be a one-year thing.
“Then I got out here and realized how much fun I was having and kind of falling back in love with the game. I said to you guys [the media] that this is not going to be a one-year thing and then it gets taken away [torn Achilles]. In my mind, obviously, this is a what have you done for me lately and I’m going to have to go out and prove I can still play at a high level but I’d like this to be more than just next year,” Rodgers said back in January at his press conference.
“I was thinking when I got traded it was gonna be a 1 year thing, then I got to the #Jets, realized how much fun I was having, fell back in love with the game. I’d like this to be more than just next year.”- Aaron Rodgers
Our QB 🥹
The Packers are Rodgers’ ex-girlfriend, and they never got him a premium offensive toy in the first round. One way the Jets could grease the wheels of their current relationship with Rodgers is by doing that one thing.
The Jets’ Offense Is Loaded With Rodgers at the Helm
Even if the Jets don’t draft a pass catcher in the first round, they have already surrounded Rodgers with talent on the offensive side of the ball.
In Rodgers’ eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame career, he has thrown 475 passing touchdowns. That is good for fifth-best all-time in NFL history.
During his time in Green Bay, he threw a touchdown to 47 different players, per Cimini, but only one of those players was ever selected in the opening round of the draft, veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis.
The green and white no matter what already have two former first-rounders at the offensive skill positions in Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams.
If either player catches just a single touchdown in 2024, they will become the first former first-round wide receiver to ever catch a TD from A-Rod.
Austin Mock of The Athletic ranked all 32 NFL rosters ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. The Jets placed No. 9 in those rankings.
“Admittedly, I had a hard time with the Jets’ projection as LT Tyron Smith will be a huge “if” player for them this year. If you get a healthy Smith, this could be a solid offensive line. If not, things go south quickly, and I’m not sure I like the idea of a porous offensive line with QB Aaron Rodgers coming off an Achilles injury,” Mock explained. “Betting on a healthy Smith probably allows them to go elsewhere at No. 10 in the draft.”