Those of us who watched the Jets vs Bills game on Monday night saw the tragedy that happened early in the game: Aaron Rodgers went down on a hit and had to be carted into the locker room. This was a tragedy for all Jets fans, as there was an extreme amount of hype behind this season and were even featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks series, where we got to see Rodgers show off all of his skill and knowledge for the game behind the scenes.
Now that he’s officially out for the season according to multiple reports, Robert Saleh and the Jets’ ownership team are in an extremely hard spot and need to figure out who will lead the team this season, since they completely built this team around Rodgers. Here are the best (and some of my favorite) options for the team.
Sticking with Zach Wilson: This is the most likely outcome of what we’ll see happen in my opinion. Wilson had the entire offseason and training camp to learn from Rodgers and we’ll likely see him put that to use in the coming weeks. There is a big issue though. He’s still in a very raw phase of his career. The Jets have one of the best defenses in the league right now, but without a reliable QB1, that doesn’t matter. Last season, he threw nine touchdowns, but 11 interceptions and was 3-10 with the team. If the Jets want to make a run, he is probably not the guy.
Bringing back Brady: The second Rodgers was announced out for the season, everyone’s social media immediately blew up with rumors of the Jets trying to talk Tom out of retirement. Brady, now 46 years old, has had one of the most legendary careers in football history and is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. He has seven rings, five Super Bowl MVPs and a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. The one problem is he started to show his age last year and went 8-9 with the Buccaneers. He also now holds a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports. Everyone is tired of seeing number twelve on the field and at this point, nobody wants him back.
Signing Carson Wentz: This one would be interesting to see and I don’t think it makes much sense. He was at one point the best in the league with a pro-bowl appearance and a high MVP candidacy, but that was years ago. In 2022 with in Washington, he only went 2-5 and struggled. Plus, he’s injury prone and that’s the last thing the Jets need right now.
Playing Joe Flacco: Last season, Joe Flacco was Wilson’s backup so he has at least some knowledge of the Jets’ system and he plays in a very familiar style as Rodgers does. Plus, he has a Super Bowl title and MVP award from when he won it with the Ravens back in 2012. Now, he’s also older and way out of his prime, but I can see him playing one last season.
Aaron Rodgers is now out for the season and with that, the Jets front office has a very tricky decision to make. My favorite option is to bring back Flacco, since he has been with a team that can win titles many times and has the same level of experience as Rodgers, but just lacks the talent. Overall though, any of these options will work and only time will tell what the Jets opt to do.