FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is still uncertain whether he'll play football beyond this season. And if he does, he isn't sure if it'll even be with the New York Jets.
The 41-year-old quarterback will consider any and all scenarios during the offseason. That includes potentially mentoring a youngster who might someday take his job. Or even adjusting his contract again to stay with the Jets next season.
“Yeah, I’m open to everything,” Rodgers said after practice Wednesday.
He also envisions being even healthier to start next season than he was this season, coming off a torn Achilles tendon.
“Yeah, it's possible,” he said before smiling. “Might be sitting on a beach, though.”
Rodgers' future will be a storyline from now until there's clarity sometime in the offseason, whether he's back with the Jets, retires or is released and plans to play elsewhere. But he reiterated his first choice is to remain in New York.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why this would be a great opportunity,” he said. “But I’m going to see what happens. There's a lot of things that have to happen.”
Rodgers was referring to the Jets' search for a general manager and a head coach after Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh were fired earlier this season.
“Whether or not I’m part of the conversation, or whether or not they move on,” Rodgers said, “whatever happens, I’ll be taking my time and thinking about my future.”
Rodgers struggled with knee, ankle and hamstring ailments early in the season and was clearly hindered by the injuries as he and the Jets got off to a bad start. The four-time NFL MVP acknowledged this season — the Jets are 4-10 and out of the playoff hunt for the 14th straight year — hasn't been up to his standards or expectations.
But he also refuses to use injuries as an excuse for his inconsistent play through much of this season.
“It’s a what-if game,” Rodgers said. “I don’t get into a whole lot of that. I felt like I was healthy enough to play, so I played and that was kind of the end of the conversation there. There were games where I was more hampered and games I felt a little bit better.
"But obviously, I feel a lot better the last couple of weeks.”
In his past two games, Rodgers is 43 of 69 — a 62% completion rate — for 628 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. In New York's 32-25 victory Sunday at Jacksonville, he threw for 289 yards with two touchdown passes to Davante Adams and another to Garrett Wilson as Rodgers helped pull out a rare win with a late comeback drive.
Still, the 20-year veteran said a late-season surge won't necessarily affect how he'll approach coming back next season.
“No, I’m going to take some time after the year — unless, you know, I get released right away,” he said with a slight smile. “But I’ll still take some time whether or not I want to play, but I’ll take some time to get away from it, either way.”
Rodgers is signed through next season with a $2.5 million non-guaranteed base salary. He would also be due a $35 million option bonus before the regular season begins and count $23.5 million against the salary cap. But if he’s cut or retires, the Jets could absorb a $49 million dead money charge next year unless they designate him a June 1 cut and can spread it out over two years.
Those are issues the team's new regime will have to consider, as well as whether they think he can still lead the Jets on the field and stay healthy.
New York will likely pick in the top 10 of the draft next April, so taking a quarterback could be in play. Rodgers insists he's OK with that, if he's still on the team. He was also asked if he could see a scenario where the Jets ask him to return, but could turn to a youngster if they fall out of playoff contention.
He compared it to when he was in Green Bay and the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round in 2020. Rodgers started three seasons with Love behind him — and was the MVP during the 2020 and 2021 seasons — before the Packers moved on.
“When they drafted Jordan, I felt like I was one bad stretch from being benched, and I won MVP a couple years, so that’s the way the league is,” Rodgers said. "You've got to prove that you can play every single week, and through stretches.
“So if they ask me back and they drafted a guy, I’d mentor the hell out of him if I was playing. And I’d try to play as well as I could to keep him on the bench.”
NOTES: DT Quinnen Williams (hamstring), CB Michael Carter II (back) and RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle) didn't participate in the team's walkthrough practice. ... RB Braelon Allen (back), RB Isaiah Davis (back), CB Brandin Echols (shoulder), RT Morgan Moses (knee) and LB Quincy Williams (knee) were listed as limited. ... S Jaylen Mills was placed on injured reserve after breaking his collarbone on an interception at Jacksonville. ... DT Leki Fotu, on IR with a knee injury, had his practice window opened.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Dennis Waszak Jr., The Associated Press
