THE TV BOOTH IS SET FOR RODGERS, WHO HAS NO REAL FUTURE AS A QUARTERBACK
The Jets cut him and ended his Hall of Fame career — why would the Raiders, Vikings and Steelers want him as he nears 42? — and he should preserve a wonderful career and move on to expressive projects
A video game isn’t necessary to determine why Aaron Rodgers should retire. Brick Johnson, the 18-year-old Harvard kid who wants to be the Mark Zuckerberg of football intelligence, can dispense simple game film and conclude why the end is here. His dad owns the New York Jets and severed Rodgers last week, joined by new coach Aaron Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey.
Any Madden NFL dorm tidbits didn’t matter. The man is old, obsolete, outmoded.
So why would another team sign Rodgers when he’ll turn 42 this season? When he still might connect Jimmy Kimmel to Jeffrey Epstein? When he adores Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? When he might visit Egypt and blow off mandatory minicamp? When ayahuasca remains in his psychedelic canister? On the field last season, he was disturbingly inconsistent for a 5-12 team. He vowed to hush players and front-office snitches with attitude problems — when he had the worst problem.
In the common world, it makes no sense why Tom Brady and Pete Carroll will prepare in Las Vegas and want any part of his overextended rotgut. The Raiders are positioned to draft Shedeur Sanders and can’t possibly sign Rodgers to help him — when Brady already is there with six more Super Bowl rings. Wouldn’t Deion Sanders raise hell and threaten to run through the Al Davis Memorial Torch?
And it makes no sense why the Minnesota Vikings would embrace him. J.J. McCarthy was drafted to be the long-term quarterback. And after a torn meniscus, he was replaced by Sam Darnold, who directed a 14-3 regular season and soon might warrant a $40-million franchise tag. The perfect one-two setup for coach Kevin O’Connell, right?
And it makes no sense why Rodgers would interest the Pittsburgh Steelers. Owner Art Rooney II says bringing back Russell Wilson or Justin Fields is “a priority,” explaining, “I think they're both capable quarterbacks, and my preference would be to sign one of them. And I think that will give us the best opportunity to move forward.” Mike Tomlin should be inclined to agree. Who would inject Rodgers’ rigmarole into an intense local scene where fans are angry?
Anyone else? The New York Giants will draft Cam Ward and are thrilled Rodgers failed with the MetLife Stadium partnership. Kirk Cousins is available for a high price and is more sensible than Rodgers as a veteran teammate anywhere. Let the Jets eat $49 million in dead cap money and allow him to pick his team starting March 12.
He shouldn’t be shocked if no one calls. Or if teams he cannot help — the Raiders — make inquiries. A trip to Costa Rica, for mystical resonance, could be planned for weeks or months. Or until Fox Sports calls — sure, right — to put him in the booth with Brady and save the national broadcasts.
No longer is Rodgers the four-time MVP after a disastrous two years in which he tore an Achilles and dampened his personal legacy. What made him so precious — artful abandon, polarizing production, a competitive skill that rallied the Packers in regular seasons when they fell short in the playoffs — faded into a painful crisis when Green Bay opted for Jordan Love. All he did in New York was take down coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas and put them in the firing line.
“I think everybody understands that it’s gonna come down to a GM and a coach and myself and whether we all want to do a dance together — or if it’s not in the cards,” Rodgers said last month. He added, “Either way, I won't be upset or offended whatever they decide to do.”
Then accept the ass-whipping and move on. “Obviously, I don't think this season will be talked about in a well-liked manner,” Jets cornerback D.J. Reed said. Rodgers with a grayer beard will be even less tolerable.
We’ll remember him as a generational performer who watched Brady at 45 and thought he could keep playing. He remains among the top 10 quarterbacks ever but is hampered by no Super Bowl championships since 2011. Peyton Manning managed to win a title in Denver, a franchise that rallied around him. Aaron Rodgers tried the Jets, and like Brett Favre, he accomplished little. His passing rating was 90.5, his lowest ever as a regular. He had 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in 17 games. He finished the season without another tear. That can be his takeaway from professional football.
There are those who say he should resurrect Favre’s path and scurry from the Packers to the Jets to the Vikings. O’Connell won’t agree. Neither would anyone else with eyeballs that work better than Brick Johnson’s.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.