Jets are a Super Bowl contender with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says

While many in the media are congratulating the Green Bay Packers for the bevy of draft picks they received by trading quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the Jets, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith firmly believes New York won the deal, as he explained in a fiery three-minute monologue on Tuesday.

‘I don’t give a damn what anybody says,’ Smith exclaimed his usual bravado on ESPN’s First Take. ‘The Jets won this trade.’

The Packers didn’t have much leverage after Rodgers requested a trade in March, but still managed to swap the No. 15 pick for the Jets’ selection at No. 13. Furthermore, Green Bay also acquired second- and fifth-round picks in this week’s draft, and another second rounder in 2024 that becomes a first-round selection if Rodgers appears in at least 65 percent of the Jets’ offensive snaps next season.

Smith’s co-host, former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marcus Spears, spent a small portion of Tuesday’s broadcast arguing that the Packers won the trade. What’s more, Spears explained, the trade looks even better if Rodgers’ successor, third-year quarterback Jordan Love, succeeds under center for the Packers.

‘They’re a rebuilding franchise with equity — with things in their pocket to continue to rebuild,’ Spears said of the Packers. ‘And what if Jordan Love pans out to be a really good quarterback? Then there will be absolutely no question who won this trade. You dealing with a guy [in Rodgers,] who may play one or two years as opposed to a franchise that has to rebuild, and already with some pieces in place. I like the Packers winning this.’

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t think the Jets spent too much for quarterback Aaron Rodgers

Smith wasn’t buying it.

‘I have never, ever in my entire tenure on this show with you cared less about the drivel you spewed out of your mouth just right now,’ Smith told Spears. ‘It means nothing to me – absolutely, positively nothing.

‘I don’t want to hear anything about Green Bay,’ Smith continued. ‘We got Aaron Rodgers in the Big Apple! We got Aaron Rodgers in the Big Apple! That bad man is in the Big Apple, baby!’

Smith’s reason is that quarterbacks are essential in the modern NFL, and having a bonafide starter with he Jets turns the team into an immediate contender, given New York’s other strong areas, like defense and wide receiver.

‘If you don’t have a quarterback, it amounts to nothing in this day and age,’ Smith said. ‘This ain’t the days when Trent Dilfer, who I love by the way, led the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl. This is a different day and a different time and a different era. And when you can stand in the pocket, or scramble out of it, to your left, to your right and throw dimes, that’s one thing.’

And Smith couldn’t be any more excited to see Rodgers replace an unpopular and inconsistent starter in Zach Wilson, who will now serve as New York’s backup.

‘Number two, when you’re succeeding Zach Wilson, it’s heaven having arrived early,’ Smith said. ‘You didn’t even need to pass away and have a funeral. You are alive and well and heaven has arrived for New York City because you finally got a quarterback.’

The New York Jets are a ‘bonafide’ Super Bowl contender following their acquisition of quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left), says ESPN’s Robert Griffin II (right)

Smith also believes Rodgers will stay in New York longer than two years if he tastes some success in New York.

‘Number three… when you look at the New York Jets right now, with as elite as this defense is, when you look at [wide receivers] Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard and other pieces that they’re getting, when you look at [Breece] Hall and the fact that he’s going to be back [from injury], when you look at what they build together, I got news for you Marcus Spears, we can talk about Aaron Rodgers, one year or two, all you want to, but one of the things that he’s been an expert at is getting his bag.

‘Now I understand parity exists in the National Football League, but there is a difference between playing in Green Bay, Wisconsin and then you come straight off the streets of Broadway, and you return [the Jets] to relevancy after more than a half century of being irrelevant,’ Smith continued.

‘Let me tell you something right now: I don’t think he’s gonna retire in two years because he’s in New York. And if that brother shows up in New York and he finds a way to deliver a championship to Gotham City, do you have any idea what that’s going to mean for his pockets, for his status, for the allure that New York brings, the dollars coming off Madison Avenue? Oh yes! The New York Jets have won this.’

As Griffin argued on Twitter, the Jets ‘got ABSOLUTELY FLEECED on this trade’

But not everyone is so convinced.

ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III says the Jets are now ‘bonafide’ Super Bowl contenders after the deal, while insisting on Twitter that New York still got ‘ABSOLUTELY FLEECED.’

‘Packers are getting a better fist (sic) round pick this year, a 2nd rounder this year, and a more than likely 1st rounder next year for 1-2 years of Rodgers,’ tweeted Griffin III.

And that doesn’t include the roughly $15 million the Packers saved by trading Rodgers, who still counts for $37 million in dead cap space on Green Bay’s books.

The Packers’ haul looks even better when compared to the 2009 Brett Favre trade.

Like Rodgers, Favre was a 39-year-old old former MVP who had won a Super Bowl in Green Bay, only he was traded to New York for a conditional fourth-round pick.

Favre had an 8-3 start with the Jets before injuring his shoulder before the team missed the postseason. He would retire before returning to play two seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.

Not everyone saw the deal as a clean victory for the Packers.

‘It’s a lot, but somehow seems pretty reasonable,’ tweeted NFL reporter Dov Kleiman.

But many did think Green Bay got the better end of the trade, considering the Packers had very little leverage after Rodgers’ trade demands became public.

‘Jets gave WAY MORE THAN THEY SHOULD HAVE to acquire a QB who’ll turn 40 in Dec, who has been awful in 3 straight Lambeau playoff games (including last yr’s ‘playoff’ vs Lions) & who has been way more miss than hit in postseason since his 1 & only SBowl 12 seasons ago,’ tweeted Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless. ‘FLEECED.’

Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless also thinks the Jets were ‘fleeced’ on the deal for Aaron Rodgers