Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets are up against the clock with the future Hall of Fame quarterback coming off the season-ending Achilles tear he suffered on the team’s opening drive of the 2023 NFL season. Plus, the four-time NFL MVP is now 40 years old.
The Jets have pushed their chips to the middle of the table since they acquired Rodgers last offseason, and continued to bring in veterans around him over the past few months. Is this franchise prepared to meet the high expectations heading into 2024?
Well, Rodgers seems to be.
“I think if I don’t do what I know I’m capable of doing, we’re all probably going to be out of here; I like that kind of pressure, though,” Rodgers said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I know it’s a tough market to play in [New York]. It’s not for everybody. I relish that opportunity. That’s the way the NFL is. I’m not saying anything monumental as you guys are typing away and putting your tweets out. This is how it is every single year. We might not say it, but as you get older in the league, if you don’t perform, they’re going to get rid of you or bring in the next guy to take over. I mean it happened in Green Bay, and I’m a few years older than I was back then.
“I expect to play at a high level. I expect us to be productive and competitive, and all that stuff to take care of itself.”
New York has improved on both ends of the ball this offseason. In free agency, the team added wide receiver Mike Williams, offensive tackle Tyron Smith and guard John Simpson, among other players. The Jets also acquired defensive end Haason Reddick from the Philadelphia Eagles and offensive tackle Morgan Moses from the Baltimore Ravens.
In the draft, they moved back one slot to select Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu with the No. 11 pick and traded up to No. 65 to nab Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley at the beginning of the third round, both additional moves to upgrade the offense around Rodgers.
The Jets are coming off their second consecutive 7-10 season. Head coach Robert Saleh is entering a make-or-break fourth season on the job, with the team 18-33 under his watch. General manager Joe Douglas is entering his sixth season on the job, with the Jets 27-56 under his vision. New York has six prime-time games in the first half of next season, as well as a game in London.
On Tuesday’s edition of “Speak,” former Packers wide receiver and Rodgers teammate James Jones expressed that anything short of a Super Bowl appearance is a failure for the Jets.
“We’ve seen Aaron Rodgers do anything and everything,” Jones said. “Every single year, he is in the playoffs with a chance to compete for a Super Bowl. He has not delivered in the playoffs and he has not gotten back to a Super Bowl [since the Packers won it in 2010]. Aaron Rodgers has to get back to the Super Bowl … if it’s not the Super Bowl, I still believe everyone’s jobs are in jeopardy.”
As for the Jets’ competition in the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills — who have won the division in each of the past four seasons — are coming off their third consecutive AFC divisional round exit and traded star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans; the Miami Dolphins have cracked the playoffs in back-to-back seasons but haven’t won a playoff game since 2000; the New England Patriots went 4-13 last season and parted ways with head coach Bill Belichick after 24 years.
The Jets have not made the playoffs since 2010, when they appeared in the AFC Championship Game.
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