Team officials for the New York Jets are flying to California to meet in person with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Tuesday, according to reporting from Dan Graziano and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
Dianna Russini of ESPN reports that Jets officials are using owner Woody Johnson’s team plane to get to California – where Rodgers lives during the offseason – for the meetings on Tuesday.
The Jets had recent conversations with Rodgers, but an in-person meeting with the player represents a major and necessary step in any trade scenario that would send the four-time NFL MVP to New York.
The Jets are bringing every person of importance in the organization. Among the participants going to California: Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
The team’s interest in Rodgers has been widely reported, and an in-person meeting suggests the player is at least somewhat curious about what the Jets have to offer in 2023. New York must now sell the 39-year-old quarterback on coming to play in the AFC East and chasing a Super Bowl in the Big Apple.
Will Rodgers come away from the meetings convinced he wants to play for the Jets? Could another team get involved? Are returning to the Packers or retirement still on the table?
We are inching closer and closer to actual answers. At this point, the Jets pulling off a trade appears to be, given recent events, the most likely end result of this latest offseason Rodgers saga. In the event Rodgers is traded, the Packers would hand the keys at quarterback over to Jordan Love in 2023.