This sounds crazy on the surface. (When has that ever stopped me?) The more you scratch it, however, the less crazy it sounds.
If the Jets lose to the Texans on Thursday night, falling to 2-7, and if the starting quarterback on a contending team suffers a season-ending injury during Week 9, could Aaron Rodgers be traded?
It’s highly unlikely. Mainly because it’s highly unlikely (but not impossible) that a starting quarterback will be seriously injured this weekend. But if it happens, and if the Jets realize at 2-7 that the fork is stuck in them, would Rodgers want to be traded, would the Jets do it, and (more importantly) would another team trade for him?
At this point, the toughest part of such a transaction could be getting a new team to want him. Given what we’ve seen from Rodgers this year, he’d arguably be more trouble than he’s worth.
He’s not as mobile as he used to be. He’s not as effective as he used to be. And he stood by silently, despite his immense power and influence within the organization, as coach Robert Saleh was fired.
Rodgers is 2-6 this season. His winning percentage is at 25. Last year, Zach Wilson was 4-7 as a starter, a 36-percent winning percentage.
It probably makes more sense to go “next man up” than to bring Rodgers in. His personality is too big. His shadow over an entire team is too long. And he has lost most if not all of the sizzle that would sell tickets and move merchandise.
As the saying goes, you die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. For Rodgers, his career has lasted long enough after he made himself into a heel to become borderline irrelevant.
That’s where he currently resides. On the fringes of irrelevance. And if/when the Jets become officially irrelevant as of Thursday night, it would be a surprise if another team wants to give him a chance to make it irrelevant for 2024, too.
