Jets ‘hope to complete a deal for Aaron Rodgers THIS WEEK’ as talks begin again with Green Bay Packers after hitting a stalemate
- Aaron Rodgers publicly stated last month that he wanted to join the Jets
- Now it seems the quarterback, 39, might get his wish as soon as this week
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Aaron Rodgers could get his desired move to the New York Jets as soon as this week.
After taking time out to consider if he was going to keep playing football, Rodgers publicly announced that he wanted to leave the Packers for a move to the Big Apple with the Jets.
Initial talks dragged and then hit a stalemate but now, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Insider, there is fresh hope an agreement will be made.
He says the teams are talking again and there is belief a deal could be struck this week.
There were also suggestions last week that the San Francisco 49ers could make a move for Rodgers with a lack of progress on a Jets deal.
The Jets and Packers are back in talks about a deal for Aaron Rodgers to go to New York
The 39-year-old Rodgers has publicly said that he wants to leave the Packers for the Jets
The 39-year-old Rodgers publicly underlined his desire to play for the Jets in a March appearance on the Pat McAfee show.
‘My intention is to play for the New York Jets,’ Rodgers told McAfee, confirming reports that he had requested a move to the Jets rather than return to the Packers or retire after 18 NFL seasons.
‘I haven’t been holding anything up at this point. It’s been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me, and kinda digging their heels in.’
One draw for Rodgers to New York was the presence of his former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, ex-Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
‘There’s a lot of reasons why the Jets are attractive,’ Rodgers said. ‘There’s one coach that’s meant as much to me as any coach I’ve ever had, and he happens to be the coordinator there.’
Rodgers was speaking to McAfee for the first time since his four-day darkness retreat, where he was expected to contemplate his NFL future.
As he told McAfee, Rodgers entered the semi-underground dwelling leaning towards retirement.
‘At this point, I got to admit that I went into retirement 90 percent retiring and 10 percent playing,’ Rodgers said. ‘That’s where my mind was. My mind was: ”I’m tired of this.” I hadn’t gotten back into my workouts yet and I thought that that was best for me.’
Rodgers would spend one of his days in Oregon focusing on retirement and the next thinking about returning to the NFL for another season, he explained.
When he re-emerged after spending days without his cell phone, Rodgers learned that the Packers were leaning towards moving him. He said the club previously told him the ‘door is wide open’ if he wanted to return to Green Bay, but Rodgers learned that was no longer the case after his darkness retreat.
‘It was clear to me at that point, that although the Packers were gonna say the right thing publicly, that they were ready to move on,’ Rodgers said. ‘I don’t know what changed that or what moved that, or if they just said: ”We need to make a decision here because he hasn’t made a decision yet.”’
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