The New York Jets Have Finally Made Up Its Mind About Aaron Rodgers’ Future

Aaron Rodgers' chaotic two-year stint with the New York Jets is over as the team announced they were moving in another direction. The 41-year-old quarterback has played for 20 seasons and has notably not yet announced whether he intends to play a 21 season. However, he has not announced his retirement so it’s unlikely that he wants to hang up his cleats.

It’s no secret that the four-time MVP is only the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes in the regular season. But Rodgers had a rather underwhelming 2024 season in terms of numbers, completing 368 passes out of 584 attempts for 3,897 yards, with 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Though these are not bad stats, they do not align with the aspirations of a team expecting to reach playoffs.

In a joint statement issued by the team, Mougey and Glenn said they met with Rodgers last week and informed him "that our intention was to move in a different direction at quarterback."
"It was important to have this discussion now to provide clarity and enable each of us the proper time to plan for our respective futures," Mougey and Glenn said in the statement. "We want to thank him for the leadership, passion, and dedication he brought to the organisation and wish him success moving forward."
A few days ago, it was reported that Glenn reportedly had some clear demands for Aaron’s return. According to sports journalist Dianna Russini, the franchise was open to him returning, but Glenn wanted full involvement in the offseason and, notably, a step back from his media appearances, including his recurring appearance on the The Pat McAfee Show where Rodgers has revealed some details which may have made the team brass uncomfortable.

Rodgers has one year left on his contract, worth a non-guaranteed $US37.5 million ($A59.8 million). Jets would absorb a $US49 million dead money charge next season when they eventually release Rodgers. They can take the full hit this year or, more likely, designate him as a post-June 1 cut and spread out that charge over two years.
If the Jets do that, Rodgers would remain on their roster — while carrying a $US23.5 ($A37.5) salary cap charge — until the start of the NFL's new league year on March 12. As per Adam Schefter, “As a 6/1 cut, they’d carry his $23.5M cap hit until June 1, when it drops to $14M—saving $9.5M. However, they’d then absorb a $35M cap hit in 2026.”