Shortly after Aaron Rodgers announced his intention to play for the Jets in the 2023 NFL season on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, the four-time NFL MVP took a few minutes to attempt to discredit ESPN’s report that he gave New York a “wish list” of players to target before joining the franchise.
The list includes three of Rodgers’s Green Bay teammates—Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard and Marcedes Lewis—as well as free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini. While Lazard reportedly signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the Jets on Tuesday, Rodgers blasted Russini and ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday’s show, insinuating that he did not have a wish list or demands of his prospective future team.
“From what I’ve seen, I had a sheet of paper when I met with the Jets and said sign these people,” Rodgers said. “That’s not the reality.”
However, Rodgers did not hesitate on sharing his interest in the Jets potentially signing Beckham, and said he “talked glowingly” about the Packers teammates that he was asked about.
“Who wouldn’t want Odell [Beckham] on their team? I don’t have demands, my only demand is for transparency,” Rodgers said.
After a disappointing 2022 season in which the Packers missed the playoffs, Rodgers is now set to head to the Big Apple to play for Jets head coach Robert Salah and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, pending a trade being finalized. He expressed how excited he is to be reunited with his former Packers OC as well.
“There’s one coach that’s meant as much to me as any coach I’ve ever had, and he happens to be the coordinator,” Rodgers said.
