Jets’ Aaron Rodgers failure doesn’t have to set them back (another) several years

Give the Jets credit for one thing: they certainly went all in on the bet that Aaron Rodgers could fix everything and lead their franchise back to the promised land.
Yes, they paid a steep price for it, sending two premium draft picks to the Packers (a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder) and $75 million to Rodgers’ bank account for one season of below average quarterbacking.
All that bought them was one season of below average quarterbacking, nearly two years of unrelenting drama, misguided justification for bringing back a coach and GM who should have been fired at the end of 2023, and countless social media posts mocking the Jets for setting the franchise back a decade.
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Well, here’s the good news for Jets fans, that last part doesn’t have to be true. Yes, the Rodgers situation went about as poorly as imaginable. And finding the right general manager and coach to lead the franchise is no slam dunk with owner Woody Johnson’s meddlesome ways now impossible to ignore.
But in terms of roster building, the Jets new decision makers will have room to maneuver in 2025 as they try to reshape the roster and best position themselves for the future.
It’s obvious now that Rodgers and the Jets’ partnership is likely at its end. Rodgers hasn’t been terrible, but he’s played far below the level even he expected from himself and been a massive disappointment to the fans he promised he would change everything for.
Surely you’ve heard the Jets will be hopelessly saddled by the $49 million dead-cap charge they’ll have to carry in 2025 if they cut Rodgers after this season. It’s true, getting rid of Rodgers in 2025 would cost them $25.5 million more in cap space than it would to just keep him on the roster for $23.5 million.
But, funny enough, Rodgers buddies make it a lot easier for the Jets to move on from him with and still have the flexibility to start building in free agency as soon as 2025. The Jets will save $29.9 million by cutting receiver Davante Adams, and another $6.6 million by cutting receiver Allen Lazard, sending them into free agency with nearly $44 million in cap space which would be right in the middle of the NFL pack heading into 2025.
A new regime should also at least consider the possibility of keeping Rodgers, because if they do the Jets suddenly surge in to the top 10 in 2025 cap space with nearly $70 million. (Look it sounds crazy, but given the underwhelming crop of free agent quarterbacks, drafting a quarterback in the first round and using Rodgers as a bridge might be the best for them. And it might be Rodgers’ only opportunity to keep playing.)
Either way, the Rodgers dilemma will be far from the hardest or most consequential challenge the next Jets regime faces, especially with Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Sauce Gardner all eligible to negotiate extensions after this season.
And while it led to an all-time disappointing season for the Jets and their fans, there are multiple relatively short paths to a better future. And if anything is blocking them, it’s far more likely to be the owner than the wreckage of the Rodgers deal.

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Andy Vasquez may be reached at [email protected].