New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) exits the field after the Jets beat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.
We are here once again, ladies and gentlemen. Fire up Tankathon; it’s not even Thanksgiving, and the Jets season is over. It was never meant to be this way, not with the star power on this roster. So, where the hell do the New York Jets go from here? Robert Saleh is gone and on Tuesday Woody Johnson fired GM Joe Douglas. If the Jets want to turn things around they have to figure out what to do at the QB position.
After one Achilles injury and a disastrous opening ten weeks of 2024, it’s clear that Aaron Rodgers days look numbered in New York. Despite showing glimpses of his once MVP self throughout the season, the eye test tells the full story of Aaron Rodgers’ season.
An inability to move inside or outside the pocket is a damming indictment on any modern quarterback, and while Rodgers has never been a scrambling QB, his adeptness to move is what allowed the future Hall of Famer to become the gunslinger we know today. Fast forward to Rodgers at age forty-one, and on the back of a season-ending Achilles injury, maybe it should be no surprise that the California native is a statue in the pocket; however, Rodgers newfound tendency to not throw the ball to open receivers suggests a decline that may not just be physical.
Through multiple games this season, Rodgers has put his once unquestionable football IQ into question. This started all the way back at MetLife on Monday night football against the Bills. In the fateful play that ended Aaron Rodgers season, Garrett Wilson was open for a massive gain over the middle, but Rodgers didn’t throw it. Once again, moving onto the most recent example, in week ten at Arizona, Malachi Corley and Tyler Conklin were both open directly in front of Rodgers, but as we’ve seen many times this season, Rodgers held onto the football and the Jets had to settle for three in the redzone.
Alongside Rodgers’ quick release and dynamism in the pocket, the Cal graduates cadence to manage the play clock and read opposing defenses was just another string to Rodgers’ bow that saw him win four MVP awards at Lambeau Field. Once Rodgers landed at MetLife, though, this evaporated, as the Jets have become accustomed to numerous delays of game penalties per half, with the Jets being forced to use two timeouts in the first quarter at Foxboro in week eight.
When you combine Rodgers’ expected physical decline and loss of the footballing intelligence that made Aaron, Aaron, the Jets have to stop being walked over by a forty-one-year-old league average quarterback and, no matter Rodgers’ ambition to return, that his time in the big apple is over. If the number eight leaves at the end of this season, the Jets would incur a $49 million cap hit that can be split over two years, which of course is a massive hit for someone who isn’t even on your roster, but this allows DeVante Adams to leave, which frees up the Jets $30 million in cap space next year and gives a clear avenue to being a far more attractive proposition to head coach and GM coaching candidates, as they are allowed a fresh slate to pick their quarterback, with what could be the fifth most cap space across the league, instead of being forced into retaining a veteran quarterback, a receiver duo in decline.
Keeping the forty-two-year-old in 25′ counts as a relatively inconsequential $23.5 million cap hit next year, but the following year, in 2026, the jets are hit with an enormous dead cap hit of $63.5 million. When you take into account the impact Aaron Rodgers has on the Jets future cap situation, do the Jets even have a logistical choice on what to do under center next year? For all those saying Rodgers could be kept to be a bridge starter next year, his previously mentioned financial implications make this fundamentally impractical. Do you really want to lose out on $37.5 million in cap space for a bridge quarterback?
What sane general manager is going to want to come to a team with a $63.5 million dead cap hit which prohibits him to pay the young talent that even drew Rodgers to Meadowlands in the first place? Taking the easy way out, allowing Rodgers, someone who has no long-term future with the Jets, to make a decision on his future in New York, is what has made the Jets the laughing stock of the NFL for the last twenty years.
The Jets have to rip off the band aid, and force Rodgers, and subsequently Devante Adams, to leave, making the prospect of the Jets an exceedingly more attractive proposition to head a coach or general manager.
The absence of Rodgers gives the Jets incumbent GM and head coaching duo two options that will steer the Jets clear of quarterback purgatory: have Tyrod Taylor and Jordan Travis battle it out for a starting spot, finding out what you have in a high upside prospect in Jordan Travis, while the Jets could earn a top five pick to have another swing at selecting a franchise QB in 2026, or take a first round quarterback this year, who would most likely have a redshirt year learning under Tyrod, giving a rookie the needed time to adjust to the NFL and the trials and tribulations of the New York media. A strategy that perhaps the Jets should have deployed in 2021…
There is plenty of time to argue who the Jets best option could be in next year’s draft, with Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward standing out as two highly coveted options with a combination of a high ceiling and day one starting ability, but the Jets ability to present a rookie with a host of offensive talent and a year to learn a contemporary NFL system, under a veteran game manager, opens the door to a few more high upside options under center, but could they be? Here are my two favorite options.
Grant Nussmeier would be an intriguing option for the Jets in the first round. With his dad, Doug Nussmeier, the QB coach for the Eagles, Grant has a natural footballing IQ that can’t be taught at the NFL level, with the LSU star excelling at getting through his reads, trusting his receivers throwing in anticipation of where he expects them to be. Nussmeier further illustrates his intelligence with his ability to escape pressure, allowing him to utilize his powerful arm in broken play scenarios, a key skill at the next level. Nussmeier would certainly need to bulk up to play at the NFL, with his small frame raising questions about his durability against big league pass rushers.
Alternatively, the Jets new general manager could look towards Penn State’s Drew Allar to be the next face of the Jets franchise, with the twenty-year-old possessing as much talent as he does youth. Allar is a pocket passer that is built to succeed at the next level, literally. Standing at 6’5, 240, Allar has the arm strength and size to unlock defenders in the pros, but like Nussmeir, there is no doubt the Ohio native needs time to develop, with Allar needing to work on getting through his reads quicker and improving the speed at which he throws. Allar has plenty of potential, but rushing the what will be twenty-year-old into a starting role could be a disaster.
The talent on both sides of this Jets roster is undeniable. From offensive weapons like Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall to a youthful offensive line that will only get better with seasons of continuity. The Jets aren’t forced into having a quarterback that has to drag the a team up from it’s boot straps. The Jets are in a position to accommodate a project quarterback. The Jets already possess major hall marks of success for a young quarterback, offensive talent, and a potentially rock solid offensive line. All this without even mentioning the defensive studs this team has acquired, and this roster is set up to thrive with just a modicum of modern offensive play calling and a winning culture from leadership figures on both sides of the sideline. In a wide open AFC, the Jets have pieces that could make them one year of patience from years of success, but this all starts with the implementation of a new culture at One Jets Drive that can be ignited by not being controlled by an egotistical league average quarterback and starting a fresh under center, on the sidelines, and in the front office.