In the Jets’ Week 15 win over the Jaguars, Aaron Rodgers posted his first 300-yard passing game since the 2021 season. Showcasing his rapport with Davante Adams, Rodgers may also have continued to make his case he can be a team’s starter in 2025.
Rodgers has gone from leaning toward playing next season to being undecided. The four-time MVP again said he would take time to process his future after the season. Though, he added (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) a Jets release could come soon after the season. The Jets could designate Rodgers a post-June 1 cut, but were they to do so, the transaction cannot occur until the start of the 2025 league year (March 12). If the Jets are keen on taking a $49MM dead money hit in 2025, they could release Rodgers in February.
It is interesting to hear a starting quarterback assess his future in this way, though Rodgers has obviously become a rather outspoken presence over the past few years. The Jets are widely believed to be ready to move on at season’s end. Woody Johnson attempted to have the decorated QB benched on at least one occasion, with another effort also rumored to have taken place. With the Jets readying to start over at GM and HC, that duo is expected to look for a new starting quarterback as well.
The Raiders and Giants, however, have the inside track to the 2025 draft’s top two quarterback prospects — Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward. (At 4-10, the Jets are projected to pick eighth.) In a QB class not viewed as particularly special, the Giants and Raiders finishing with the league’s two worst records could force other teams to look more closely at free agency or the trade market. The Jets have a player other teams would seemingly consider, baggage and all, but Rodgers has said his first choice would be to remain a Jet. He added another detail to this stance Wednesday, indicating (via Hughes) he would be open to a contract adjustment to stay.
Rodgers, 41, did not limit potential solutions to a pay cut. Though, a restructure would push more money into the future; it would be unlikely if a new Jets regime was ready to go down that road. It would already cost the team $49MM in dead money — as of now, that would be the second-highest single-player total in NFL history — for the Jets to release Rodgers. They could split that amount through two years with a post-June 1 cut.
Similar to his 2023 Packers arrangement, Rodgers is due a $35MM roster bonus that can be paid at any point before Week 1, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. That timeline gave the Packers flexibility to move on, executing a trade in late April of last year. The Jets are unlikely to have a comparable trade market, though Rodgers being open to a few solutions could also include reducing the bonus number. Of course, he could simply force a release and keep the contract as is. Rodgers would still have full control over a trade destination due to a no-trade clause, but given the developments over the past two seasons, it would be more realistic if he were released.
Rodgers’ latest complex contract would also make him more expensive to cut in 2026 than 2025, per ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini, who notes the dead cap charge would increase to $63MM if the Jets retain him in ’25 and move on a year later. The option bonus being paid by the Jets before Week 1 of next season would prorate through the contract’s life (four void years are on the deal) and accelerate onto their 2026 cap sheet. The Broncos faced a somewhat similar situation with Russell Wilson, whose 2025 salary guarantee would have made him a bit more expensive to drop in 2025 compared to a 2024 release. Denver ended up biting the bullet, producing an $83MM-plus dead money total that shattered the NFL record.
Through that lens, the Jets keeping Rodgers in 2025 on his current contract may be a nonstarter. But the 20-year veteran did accept a significant pay cut in 2023 to help the Jets, removing roughly $35MM from his deal in August of last year. Another such move may be the only decision that could keep him in New York.
Regardless of Rodgers’ 2025 status, the Jets are expected to draft a quarterback, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The Jets did not bring in an heir apparent in 2023 or ’24, centering their plan on their aging starter. Rodgers has experience in a team drafting a passer early, with the Packers’ 2020 Jordan Love trade-up famously rankling the QB and leading to the 2021 standoff. Green Bay brass not alerting Rodgers of that trade-up beforehand became a point of contention, but he still played three more seasons with the team. If Rodgers manages to stick around with the Jets, it likely would be for just one more season. Only void years remain on Rodgers’ contract beyond 2025.
As of now, the Jets are not expecting Johnson to be part of Donald Trump’s second presidential administration. That would mean the longtime owner, who was away as the ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 through January 2021, would make the decision on Rodgers. Based on what we have heard thus far, Johnson would likely come down on the side of starting over.
If the Jets do not hold a top-two pick, their options may narrow to the point keeping Rodgers could become a consideration. How Rodgers plays over the team’s final three games and how he approaches the offseason will contribute to the Jets’ near-future plan, as the prospect of an all-time QB great hitting free agency at 41 will loom barring a significant change.