Are we finally reaching the end of the “Will he or won’t he” Aaron Rodgers saga as it relates to the Jets? It certainly sounds like we are. But maybe not. Who knows — it is Rodgers we’re talking about, after all.
Things accelerated for New York and the signal-caller earlier this week. Reports surfaced that both sides chatted on Monday. Then, a Jets contingent flew out to southern California on owner Woody Johnson’s private plane to woo the four-time NFL MVP in person.
Now back from the trip, they’re just waiting for Rodgers to make a decision. According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini on the latest episode of Get Up!, Gang Green feels confident they’ll land their top option to play quarterback in New York next year (quote via Bleacher Report):
It actually started before that trip to the west coast to meet Aaron Rodgers in person. This was all driven by owner Woody Johnson. He wanted to get in front of the quarterback, get to know him a little bit, and talk about what it could be, what it could look like and what they could achieve with Aaron Rodgers under center in New York with this Jets roster. So they went in there thinking they could get him, and they came home believing they are poised to get him, and they feel like they can get this done.
When we joked about the most important person being on that cross-country flight earlier this week (i.e. Nathaniel Hackett), a few joked on the Twitter machine that they wished Johnson stayed in New York.
But could he be the driving force behind a deal getting done? It seems like they could’ve easily pursued and signed Derek Carr if they preferred to have a resolution as soon as possible. However, he signed with the New Orleans Saints, essentially leaving a Rodgers-or-bust situation on the table.
We’ll find out what the signal-caller wants to do soon enough. Maybe before the weekend? That’d be nice. Or maybe he’ll make us wait until next week. Once again, who knows… this is Rodgers we’re talking about.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.