Ahead of the New York Jets' Week 18 finale and with his NFL playing future far from certain, Aaron Rodgers expressed "gratitude" on Wednesday for his tenure as quarterback of the team. Rodgers, 41, shared a positive view on his time with the Jets despite a lack of success unbecoming of the former NFL MVP and organizational instability emblematic of reported dysfunction within the franchise.
After winning a Super Bowl and becoming a perennial MVP with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was heralded as the light bringer for the quarterback-starved Jets when he was traded to New York in 2023. But all the hype and promise of Rodgers' arrival was almost instantly derailed when he ruptured his Achilles just four plays into his Jets debut, costing him virtually the entire 2023 season. He would return for 2024, but the Jets have gone 4-12 with Rodgers looking at times like a shell of the player he was in Green Bay.
Still, Rodgers called his time with the Jets "the best two years of my life," a mentality he attributes to an adjustment he made while recovering from his Achilles injury a year ago.
"Gratitude. It's been the best two years of my life"
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) January 1, 2025
Aaron Rodgers reflects on his tenure with the Jets pic.twitter.com/8Yvc0e4w6q
"That's a perspective adjustment that happened, I think, at some point during the rehab process last year," Rodgers told reporters. "Just the excitement, falling back in love with the game, getting to know these guys in here, getting to know the great men and women that work here, it's been a lot of fun.
"Obviously on the field has been short of expectations, no doubt. But this game is more than just that. This game is about the relationships, the things that last longer than this, than your health, your body being able to play. I'm really thankful for the men and women that I've met here in New Jersey, the experiences that I got to have with my teammates and enjoying the city. Obviously wish things would've gone better on the field, but nothing but gratitude for this time in my life."
Rodgers' future with the Jets, and his future as an NFL quarterback in general, are unclear beyond his team's Week 18 finale against the Miami Dolphins. Although Rodgers is signed for 2025 with a $23.5 million salary cap hit, the Jets can save money against the cap by releasing him and also have the matter of a no-trade clause in his contract to navigate.
