Mikey Peterson
News broke the morning of Feb. 13 that the New York Jets have officially parted ways with former Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. With that came some mixed reactions to the decision. Obviously, the move the Jets made two years ago to acquire Rodgers stunned the football world. As after a disappointing 2022 season with the Packers, Rodgers was traded to New York mostly for picks. The move put Jordan Love in the starting spot and put Rodgers in a position to start and mentor young BYU QB Zach Wilson.
Unfortunately for Rodgers, his first season with the Jets was over in four plays after tearing his Achillies. He missed the rest of the 2023 season but came back for 2024. In 2024, he was lackluster. Not horrible, but not great either. New York also decided to make some moves to satisfy the 40-year-old QB. Acquiring WR Davante Adams in a trade with the Raiders to reunite Green Bay’s greatest QB-WR duo. The pairing wasn’t nearly as good as advertised however, as even with the acquisition and firing of Head Coach Robert Salah, the Jets finished the year a subpar 5-12. Prompting the Jets to release Rodgers, and ending yet another era for New York to forget.
Of course, Rodgers being potentially out of the NFL puts plenty of Wisconsin hearts down. As he was the starting QB for Green Bay for a decade and a half. The state got to witness the Packers’ fourth ever Super Bowl in 2010 with Rodgers under center. And through many seasons with Rodgers as the man in Green Bay, they never made it back after. But four MVP seasons were always fun to watch during the tenure. As UW-Whitewater student, Cole Brandemuhl put it, “It does suck to see him go. I know he was pondering retirement and this move probably sealed the deal for him. I always enjoyed watching him on Green Bay because he always put on a show. Just look at the four MVPs he got with us.”
Brandemuhl wasn’t the only one that was sad to see him go, as student of UW-Whitewater, Dean Raymond stated, “It is unfortunate. I loved watching him growing up, but you can’t ignore the poor year he had this year. He wasn’t great this year and he lost that spark that he had when I was a kid.”
Rodgers’ tenure with the Packers will always be remembered in the hearts of Green Bay. But of course, there were obvious toxic signs that the four-time MVP had that also caught fans’ attention. From UW-Whitewater’s Carter Leibham, “He was a great quarterback but he was a locker room cancer at times. That was shown mostly during the 2020s especially. With him calling out the rookie receivers and their flaws rather than trying to pick them up. Not trying to compare the two but it was kind of like what Michael Jordan did with the Bulls in the 90’s. He tried to push them rather than pick them up.”
Rodgers’ tenure at New York is over. But there’s always opportunity in the NFL. It’s a matter of if any team is interested in the four-time MVP in terms of him making a return to the gridiron.
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