Aaron Rodgers is going to play football for the Jets this season. The only questions now are how and when the star quarterback is moved to New York.
Rodgers, at the turn of the new NFL year, made it clear that he intends to call the Meadowlands home in 2023. But as of Thursday morning, the Packers and the Jets hadn't worked out a trade centered around the four-time MVP. With both sides owning their own sort of leverage, arranging the framework of a Rodgers blockbuster could be tricky.
In an ESPN column published Thursday, NFL insider Dan Graziano spotlighted the potential linchpin in the inevitable Rodgers trade.
"The issue is the compensation package going Green Bay's way from the Jets," Graziano wrote. "After talking to multiple sources in Phoenix, I do not believe the Packers are insisting on the Jets' first-round pick (No. 13 overall), and I think that the high second-round pick they got from Cleveland in the Elijah Moore trade could be a key to getting this done."
Rodgers' uncertain future only makes the negotiation process more difficult. The 39-year-old isn't guaranteed to play in 2024, so the Packers might want conditions on one of the return assets.
Considering the majority of a Rodgers trade likely would feature draft capital, one has to imagine Green Bay and New York will work this thing out with time to spare before Draft Day on April 27.
