There was something perhaps unintentionally cruel about the phrasing of the Jets’ breakup statement with Aaron Rodgers — “our intention was to move in a different direction at quarterback” — since moving in a different direction was what cost Rodgers one of his two seasons in a Jets uniform. When Rodgers shredded his Achilles tendon just four plays into his Jets tenure at the start of the 2023 season, the Jets saw all their grand hopes for a renaissance roll off on a cart with him.
Gone was New York’s chance to end the longest playoff drought in the NFL.