As he was getting older, the question during the off-season was always asked in the mid-2000s: When will Brett Favre decide to call it a career? Prior to the 2005 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers was widely regarded as one of the top prospects in his draft class from the California Golden Bears. Here’s the thing about the draft. It’s the one time in football where you must expect the unexpected. Aaron was a projected top-10 pick that year. Instead, he dropped all the way to the 24th pick in the draft and sat behind the legendary Quarterback in Brett for three seasons. When Brett announced his retirement the first time in 2007, Aaron finally got his chance to shine and was named the starting Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. As the years went on, he made a name for himself and just wasn’t known as the guy playing after a Hall of Famer. The last two seasons have stood out. Before the 2021 season, he announced he wanted out of Green Bay. He ends up returning to them and wins his fourth MVP that season. Last off-season, the Packers signed him to a contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in the league. What we were expecting has finally happened. Aaron Rodgers has officially been traded to the New York Jets.
When his head is in the game, Aaron is one of the best playing his position. There is no denying his talent whatsoever. It’s the confidence that he shows from the pocket to throw the ball with such consistency and thread that needle as we commonly say when discussing Quarterbacks today. When it comes to Aaron, I know he can make every throw on the field. I’ve been watching him for years and he’s always put on a clinic on how to consistently throw the ball and place it in tight windows. As a defense, you can have the perfect pass rush and the coverage in the secondary can be as textbook as it gets, that means absolutely nothing to him. No matter what you throw at him, it never phases him, and the ball has already left his hand. Earlier during his prime, Aaron was known for the play action fake, then moving the pocket and making the throw on the run. He’s slowed down on that aspect of his game but is still capable of keeping the play alive with his feet. Aaron can do it all. The mobility as I mentioned may not be what it was, but he can still move when necessary. He can also turn plays that may seem like nothing, and they end up being a big play down the field or it’s a touchdown. That’s the one problem Aaron serves up for defenses because he can capitalize on any mistake you make. You must be aware of where he is always. I remember watching Aaron in a game during the 2021 season against the Baltimore Ravens. He had such a clean pocket to throw from and threw the football to his guy with three defenders around him. I call some of Aaron’s passes “sticky situations” because he puts the ball in uncompromising positions, but somehow, his intended receiver comes away with it. Even in the elements, Aaron can push the football down the field. I’ve seen him throw the ball in the wind many times and it’s a dime each time. When he’s smiling and making plays, he’s having fun.
The trend of legendary Quarterbacks moving on to play elsewhere continues. Joe Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993, Brett Favre finished his career playing one season for these Jets and two for the Minnesota Vikings, Peyton Manning spent the first 14 seasons of his career with the Colts before signing with the Denver Broncos and most recently in 2020, Tom Brady left New England after 20 seasons with the Patriots and finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This move makes the Jets a playoff team, but I’m not ready to gift wrap them the division or put them over the Chiefs, Bengals or even the Bills in the conference. Now, we have two Aaron’s playing in New York.
