Many believed that the New York Jets possessed the ideal blueprint to contend for a Super Bowl victory before the 2023 NFL season began. To head their inexperienced offense, they acquired Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers and four-time NFL MVP. It was envisaged that Rodgers would coach Zach Wilson, a former second-round pick, in the same manner as he taught Jordan Love in Green Bay. Rodgers would eventually ride off into the sunset after two or three years, and Wilson would be prepared to take over.
But that’s not how it actually happened. Four snaps into the Jets’ Week One matchup with the Buffalo Bills, Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon. Wilson battled greatly after being pushed back into the starting lineup. After a humiliating loss in Week 11, he was eventually benched and dropped to third string.
Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, was cited after the season as saying that New York will require a backup quarterback in 2024 since, “We didn’t have one last year.”
The Jets seem prepared to let go of their previous second-round pick and are looking for a seasoned quarterback. But one former quarterback with the Jets believes the team will not consider Rodgers’ advice when selecting a backup.
The former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason, who was a New York player from 1993 to 1995, is currently a co-host of the WFAN program “Boomer and Gio” and an NFL analyst. As the Jets and Aaron Rodgers seem ready to move on from Wilson, Esiason delivered a forceful statement on Tuesday:
“Aaron Rodgers is not a 25-year-old getting $50 million a year; the Jets must act in the team’s best interest, not the best interest of a single player. A forty-year-old man is recovering from a torn Achilles. You had best have a reliable person back there. Whether Aaron Rodgers likes him or not is irrelevant. If he needs to play three or four games, you really need to get a real person in here.
“Aaron Rodgers’ opinion doesn’t actually matter in this specific scenario…They require a reliable backup. It’s inevitable that he will suffer harm at some point. Hopefully not in a major way. But, man, to play through 17 games, especially after suffering an Achilles injury?
As Rodgers’ backup in Green Bay the previous season, Rodgers persuaded the Jets to sign Tim Boyle. In 2023, Boyle made two starts for New York and only threw one touchdown against four interceptions. He was signed to the Houston Texans practice squad after being dismissed before the season even concluded.
Many of Rodgers’ previous associates and teammates moved to New York with him. The youthful offense was expected to benefit from the veteran expertise and strong relationship that wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb had with the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Rather, during the season, they combined for fewer than 400 yards and two touchdowns.
Boyle was expected to be a respectable fallback, but as previously shown, he turned out to be anything but. Instead of implementing a high-scoring strategy that would have won Aaron Rodgers the MVP of both the 2020 and 21 seasons, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett had to get Rodgers’ endorsement at the end of the season to maintain his position.
Billy Turner, an offensive tackle, was expected to be a valuable depth player on the offensive line. Rather, despite the Jets having one of the weakest offensive lines in the NFL, he performed so poorly that he was only involved in 23 percent of the offensive snaps.
Adrian Amos’s role on the defensive end of the ball was to support the safety position. Rather, he sustained a cut in the first part of December. He ultimately signed with the Texans, much like Boyle.
The Jets might do better if Aaron Rodgers just didn’t assist recruit players to New York, even though he claims he is ready, willing, and able to do so.