The New York Jets’ clash with the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 will very likely prove to be the last for both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Davante Adams in team colors.
Rodgers’s relationship with team owner Woody Johnson was deemed “irreparable” by uStadium this week. Considering Adams, 32, pushed for a trade to New York to play with his longtime teammate, the All-Pro wideout would almost certainly follow suit.
Rodgers, 41, was replaced in the fourth quarter of last week’s 40-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills with backup Tyrod Taylor as New York tumbled to a 4-12 record. The four-time MVP was almost outright benched back in October with the team still in playoff contention.
Following a 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos, Johnson posited in a team meeting that New York should elect to go in a different direction under center.
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“The coaches and [general manager Joe] Douglas, stunned at the suggestion, talked him out of it and convinced Johnson to stay the course,” Zach Rosenblatt of the Athletic reported. “Benching Rodgers, with his pedigree, four games into the season would not sit well with the locker room. The coaches also felt it would embarrass Rodgers.”
Rodgers rebounded from a slow start to put up serviceable numbers in his first season with the Jets. Through 16 games, he’s completed 63.0% of his passes for 3,623 yards with a 24-10 touchdown-interception ratio. His 48.3 QBR ranks just 25th in the NFL.
The former Green Bay Packer seems accepting of the reality that his future may be out of control when asked midweek if Sunday would be his last NFL game.
Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams achieved a fair bit more success together in Green Bay than New York (
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Getty Images)
“I think there’s going to be change here, and if I’m part of the change, then I just want to make sure everybody knows I have nothing but gratitude for my time here,” Rodgers admitted. “I’m just more resigned to the reality of the situation,”
Rodgers and Adams were teammates in Green Bay from 2014-2021, reaching the playoffs in six of eight seasons and the NFC Championship Game on four occasions. New York traded a conditional third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders to acquire Adams in October with the team looking to right the ship of a few early-season losses.
The former All-Pro has been closer to above-average than elite with the Jets, catching 61 passes for 766 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. Adams will earn an unguaranteed $35.6 million in 2025, an onerous figure for a declining wideout. New York can release him this offseason with limited cap fuss.
Rodgers’s contract is slightly more tricky. If the team chooses to cut their signal caller, they will suffer a $14 million dead cap hit in 2025 and a $35 million tab in 2026.
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