Aaron Rodgers is set to embark upon take two of his first full season with the New York Jets , creating nearly as much buzz and excitement as before he tore his Achilles in last season's opener. Behind the scenes, though, it might not be all too happy.
In an anonymous survey of player agents conducted by The Athletic , one agent called out the Jets for how much power they've given Rodgers.
"There is complete disarray over there," the anonymous agent told The Athletic. "Look at how they've handled Aaron Rodgers. Has one player had more power than him? He skipped minicamp. They have been unable to convert him into a team player. The vibe inside the building is terrible."
There has been speculation about how much power Rodgers has over the Jets since they traded for him last offseason. It was reported prior to the trade that Rodgers had given New York a wish list of players he wanted the team to add, which the QB later denied . The Jets also hired former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett reportedly based largely on Rodgers' recommendation.
New York's hopes that the four-time NFL MVP would immediately turn the franchise around were put on pause just four offensive plays into the 2023 season when he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Rodgers said on numerous occasions that he was attempting to return later in the season, but that didn't come to fruition.
As the Jets faltered to another 7-10 season, there was displeasure over how the year went. In January, an unnamed Jets coach told The Athletic called the team's situation "just such a f---ing mess." Former Jets quarterback Zach Wilson and other players were also tired of the way head coach Robert Saleh "fawned over Rodgers," The Athletic reported in January.
Rodgers has also openly criticized the culture during his tenure in New York. He scolded the Jets for constant leaks, telling "The Pat McAfee Show" in December that "It's a problem with the organization."
Rodgers again criticized the culture when he spoke to reporters at the end of the 2023 season.
"Anything in this building that we're doing that has nothing to do with winning needs to be assessed," Rodgers said. "Everything that we do has to have a purpose ... the bulls--- that has nothing to do with winning has to get out of the building."
Rodgers then made headlines in June when he missed the Jets' mandatory minicamp due to a trip to Egypt. He downplayed his absence, telling the "Pardon My Take" podcast that he attended every practice during organized team activities.
"They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want and say, 'This is the minicamp week,' which makes it somehow more mandatory than the other weeks," Rogers said. "But it was an OTA schedule. That's how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. They can make a story out of the fact that I missed minicamp, but it was really two OTA days, but [I] came to the first 10."
Still, Rodgers was fined for his absence, though Saleh downplayed any possible tension between the two when training camp opened in July.
"I've had dialogue with Aaron throughout the summer," Saleh told reporters at the time. "I got some cool pictures from him. [We] had our normal conversations. Nothing has been broken, but the minicamp stuff, we talked beforehand, so we are on the same page with everything that has happened."
Saleh also told the San Francisco Chronicle in a recent interview that Rodgers hasn't had a negative impact, saying "it would be silly not to ask him a question or two" because he's "one of the greatest ever."
"Any organization that has a [future] Hall of Fame quarterback is gonna defer to him and to make sure that things are in a way that he needs it to be so he can perform his best," Saleh added in his comments to the San Francisco Chronicle. "What I will say is that Aaron does a phenomenal job communicating, and making sure that we're all on the same page in both directions. There's a give and take."
Whether the Jets allowing Rodgers to have an outsized influence will impact their play remains to be seen, but there are still high expectations for Gang Green in 2024 despite some of the off-the-field headlines. They recently became the betting favorite to win the AFC East and are a popular pick to reach the Super Bowl . Living up to those expectations might be the only way to fully prove that the organization isn't in "complete disarray."
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