Getty Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan in 2022.
Assuming the New York Jets don’t draft a quarterback at No. 13 overall, their options are extremely limited at this point of the offseason if a trade for Aaron Rodgers were to fall through.
They could give Zach Wilson another go as the starter (option one), make a desperate attempt to steal away Lamar Jackson — which is very unlikely to work unless they overpay by so much money that the Baltimore Ravens don’t choose to match the offer (option two), or target an available veteran in free agency on a one-year contract (option three).
Ryan Shafer of The Jet Press dove into that third route during an article on April 14, suggesting Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz and Mason Rudolph as the top candidates on the open market — which is a terrifying thought, even if hypothetical.
“Of the group, the most likely candidate for the Jets would be Carson Wentz because of his age (still only 30) and his potential upside, not to mention his connection to Jets general manager Joe Douglas,” Shafer continued. “Wentz is not a good NFL quarterback anymore, make no mistake about it, but think about this — is he better than Zach Wilson last year? I would have to argue yes, and any improvement over Wilson has to be taken seriously as an option.”
Jets Must Stop at Nothing to Secure Aaron Rodgers via Trade
The Jet Press writer concluded that the Jets should still be able to make the playoffs with an experienced signal-caller like Wentz, but it’s hard to see them winning any games beyond that. Honestly, I’m not even all that confident a player like Wentz or Ryan gets them a ticket to the dance at this stage of their respective careers.
That’s what makes this Rodgers trade so imperative. Three months ago, there were other options but now, there aren’t.
Quarterbacks like Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield, Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew, Taylor Heinicke, Marcus Mariota and even Mike White, have all signed. Trade candidates like Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Ryan Tannehill and Matthew Stafford are no longer available — supposedly.
The Jets have backed themselves into a corner and although the Green Bay Packers have done the exact same thing, there must be a sense of urgency from the Jets at some point in this process — because they have more at stake in 2023. If this trade doesn’t happen before or during the NFL Draft for example, that’d be concerning.
After the draft, there’s nothing stopping the Packers from waiting all the way up until Week 1 to move Rodgers. The Jets can afford to wait a couple of months, but they cannot afford their starting quarterback to miss training camp — even if he’s familiar with the offensive playbook.
At the end of the day, Rodgers still has to build chemistry and rapport with his teammates, and that won’t happen if he’s stuck behind lock and key.
Latest on Jets & Aaron Rodgers: ‘Deal Isn’t Particularly Close’
When ESPN’s Adam Schefter relayed that “there hasn’t been a whole lot of conversation” between the Jets and Packers since the NFL League Meeting, fans did not believe the long-time insider.
That was on April 12. Now it’s April 17 and The Athletic’s NYJ media member Zack Rosenblatt reported the exact same thing.
“The vibe around the Jets is that a deal isn’t particularly close,” Rosenblatt updated. “And that’s why it has been mostly quiet on the Rodgers front, other than Douglas making an appearance at a WFAN event in New Jersey, declaring — at Boomer Esiason’s behest — that Rodgers is ‘gonna be here’ and then dumping a vat of ranch dressing on a radio host.”
“If Douglas completes the trade soon, I’ll let him dump some ranch dressing on me, too,” Rosenblatt joked. At this point, I think most of us would sign up for that!