Aaron Rodgers sat in front of a packed auditorium at the New York Jets' facility and shared an observation a few generations of frustrated fans knew all too well.
“I noticed walking in this morning," the quarterback said during his introductory news conference in April 2023, "that that Super Bowl 3 trophy is looking a little lonely.”
The four-time NFL MVP was there to help change that. The Jets and their fans believed they finally had the on-field leader with a championship pedigree they've been craving for decades.
Instead, Rodgers has become yet another failed supposed savior in a year unlike few others — if any — in franchise history.
Super Bowl aspirations are long gone. The Jets reached their bye-week break with a 3-8 record and the events that have marked the tumultuous path to this point are ugly.
“I mean, it’s disappointing,” Rodgers said after the Jets' 28-27 loss to Indianapolis last Sunday. “I know I’ve said that three times now, but we’ve been working really hard trying to figure out what the issues are. It’s not just one person.
"Sometimes it’s me. Sometimes it’s somebody else.”
And owner Woody Johnson has made it clear he's not happy with anyone.
After the Jets' 2-3 start, he fired coach Robert Saleh. It was a stunning move because of the timing — after just five games and the first time in Johnson's 25 years running things that he made a midseason coaching change.
He insisted this year's squad was one of the franchise's “most talented teams that has ever been assembled,” so he tabbed defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to replace Saleh on an interim basis.
“This change, the change that we made today — that I made," Johnson said that day, "I believe will bring new energy and positivity that will lead to more wins, starting now.”
The Jets are 1-5 since and appear well on their way to missing the playoffs for the 14th straight year, the NFL's longest active drought.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, one of Rodgers' closest friends in football and with whom he enjoyed success in Green Bay, was demoted from play-calling duties in favor of passing game coordinator Todd Downing.
In a sign the Jets still believed they could make a playoff run, they traded for wide receiver Davante Adams, another of Rodgers' buddies, last month. They also got edge rusher Haason Reddick on the field after a prolonged contract holdout.
None of it has worked.
On Tuesday, Johnson officially made it a full housecleaning by firing general manager Joe Douglas after five-plus years during which the Jets were 30-64 and had no winning seasons.
It was a move that seemed inevitable, especially since Johnson didn't seek Douglas' input when he made the decision to fire Saleh. Douglas, whose contract was up at the end of the season, seemed unlikely to be back anyway.
“Obviously, it starts with me,” Douglas said of the Jets' 3-6 record when he spoke to reporters. “I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could have done better."
Johnson apparently agreed.
And now the Jets will be looking for a new head coach and a general manager, a search the owner said is already beginning.
The big question is whether Rodgers, who turns 41 on Dec. 2 and has one year left on his contract, will be part of the Jets' latest rebuild.
Rodgers recently said “I think so, yeah,” when he was asked if he envisioned playing next season. It was hardly a reassuring comment, but it was an indication he wanted to see things through despite the lousy events of this season.
But he has contributed to it with the worst statistical start of his 20-year NFL career, and it comes after he lasted only four snaps in his debut last season before a torn left Achilles tendon sidelined him.
Rodgers has never started a season with this woeful a record, and he has passed for a career-low 6.4 yards per pass. Worse, one of the league's greatest pure passers has appeared tentative lately.
“I know Aaron would love to be playing better,” Ulbrich said after the loss to the Colts. “But it’s not just him, it’s all of us.”
Rodgers' remaining year on his contract contains non-guaranteed money and he'd count $23.5 million against the salary cap next season. But if the Jets cut Rodgers before June 1 next year, they’d incur a $49 million dead money charge; it would be $14 million next year if a separation happens after June 1 and $35 million in 2026.
Johnson will need to decide if Rodgers will be back, and whether the next GM and coach want the same. Rodgers also could very well ask to be cut, traded — or perhaps retire. Reports earlier this week by The Athletic and ESPN that Johnson entertained the idea of sitting a banged-up Rodgers after four games might not sit well with the star quarterback.
Uncertainty has again become the reality for a Jets franchise that went into the past two seasons with such high hopes. But now appears to be in complete disarray.
And that trophy will remain by itself for yet another year.
“There’s no more time for making excuses,” running back Breece Hall said. “We've got to win football games at the end of the day.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Dennis Waszak Jr., The Associated Press
