GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the first time in his nearly 20-year career, it looks like Aaron Rodgers will be in a new uniform beginning next season.
After plenty of speculation over the past few weeks about Rodgers' future, with an expectation that the Jets were the frontrunners to land the four-time MVP in a trade, Rodgers announced his intentions for next season on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday.
"I made it clear since Friday my intention was to play for the New York Jets and I haven't been holding anything up at this point, it's been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me," Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show.
Additionally, Rodgers said he was under the impression the Packers would welcome him back for the 2023 season if he so chose. But, after emerging from his widely reported "darkness retreat" last month, he felt that something changed.
Rodgers said he had heard from others, mainly other players, that the Packers wanted to move on from Rodgers during this offseason.
"It is what is," Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. "Packers would like to move on, they've let me know that in so many words. They've let other people know that in direct words."
Rodgers went on to explain his gratitude for the Packers' organization and fanbase for his nearly 20-year career there and he also went on to praise the Packers' next starting quarterback, Jordan Love, who the Packers drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
While a trade is not official, there are notable parallels to the Rodgers-Love situation with the Packers as the Brett Favre-Rodgers situation about 15 years earlier.
Rodgers was drafted out of Cal by the Green Bay Packers in 2005 and after spending several seasons behind veteran Packers QB Brett Favre, Rodgers took over the starting role.
Ironically, the Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets in 2008, clearing the way for Rodgers to become the starter. Now, it appears, according to Rodgers, that he will also be sent to the Jets, clearing the way for Love to take over as the Packers' starter.
With Rodgers under center, the Packers won Super Bowl XLV in 2011 over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite nine playoff appearances and four NFC Championship Game appearances since then, Rodgers and the Packers were not able to add a second ring during his time in Green Bay.
Rodgers has won the NFL MVP award four times in his career, most recently going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.
Now, it appears Rodgers intends to join a New York Jets team that has seen new life injected into it since the hiring of Robert Saleh as head coach. While their playoff drought continues, the Jets have seen improvement in back-to-back years since their 2-14 effort in 2020.
The Jets have had a number of high-profile draft picks in recent years that are performing well, including 2022 Associated Press offensive and defensive rookies of the year in cornerback Sauce Garner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
Rodgers offered no timetable for the closure of a potential deal to send him to the Jets, as it now seems out of his hands pending compensation negotiations between the Packers and Jets.