Eventually, Aaron Rodgers is going to be traded from Green Bay to the Jets. Right? They've been saying this for more than a month now, but here we are and it still hasn't happened. If I were a Jets fan, I'd be getting a little nervous.
For the sake of discussion, it must at least be considered that the lingering stalemate between the Packers and Jets over compensation will be resolved by some other team swooping in, meeting with Rodgers, and prying him away from Green Bay, leaving the Jets left holding an empty bag. If so, which teams? I have a few ideas.
New England Patriots: Stories have been circulating about the Patriots shopping Mac Jones. They've also been shot down, but these things don't come out of nowhere. Bill Belichick and company were annoyed by Jones' on-field complaining last year and perhaps even more so by Jones seeking help outside the organization. Whether the first story is true or not, the second one almost certainly is. And if they're ready to move on from Jones, surely Belichick would get a kick out of ruining the Jets' chances to land a franchise quarterback, aged though he may be. Lots of bad blood between the two sides over the decades, since way back when Belichick left the Jets at the altar to coach the Patriots in the first place. There might be questions over whether control freak Belichick and prima donna Rodgers can get along, but Belichick and Brady made it work for 2 decades, I'm sure they could swing a couple of years.
Baltimore Ravens: I've recently decided that Lamar Jackson is done in Baltimore. There just doesn't seem to be any common ground from him wanting the kind of deal he wants and the team not wanting to give it to him. Once you hit a star player with the non-exclusive franchise tag, you've mentally made the decision you're willing to move on. I don't think it makes sense for a team to sign Jackson to a huge deal they hope the Ravens won't match, because no one wants to do all that contract work and then have the team retain him. I think a team will quietly reach out to the Ravens and say we'll give X for him, and the Ravens, if they can get an offer they like, will say, Yeah, OK, try to work out a deal with him. Maybe I'm wrong and he's still back in Baltimore, but decent chance he's gone. And while Baltimore might well want to draft a quarterback and develop that guy (like if they get a high first-rounder from the Colts), landing Rodgers, having him run their new offense for a couple of years and get their defense-oriented team to the playoffs might be appealing. Somehow the Ravens were a playoff team a year ago with Jackson missing a third of the season and Tyler Huntley in the lineup. They would be a playoff team with Rodgers and might win a couple of games, too.
Washington Commanders: It's not particularly likely that Washington could make this happen with all their current off-field concerns, but let's not rule it out. Rodgers is smart enough to be aware that the NFC is a lot more wide open than the AFC these days, given the quality of quarterbacks in the two conferences. And Washington is currently looking at Jacoby Brissett and Sam Howell, who might be wonderful people and of course Brissett is a capable veteran and such, but let's face it the team isn't going anywhere very far with either player in the lineup. I'm not sure they can make it work financially, but giving up future picks to distract everyone from the controversies involving Dan Snyder has to be mildly appealing. Rodgers would have a nice group of skill guys to work with; Terry McLaurin in particular would look a lot better with the quarterback upgrade.
Indianapolis Colts: This is unlikely, with the Colts honed in selecting one of the draft's top rookies. But: what if they only like three of the incoming rookie quarterbacks? And what if some team (Tennessee, Las Vegas) trades up with the Arizona Cardinals to land pick 1.03? Might not the Colts pivot to bringing in yet another veteran quarterback, who would certainly be a better option than the Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan options the last two years. They did it, successfully, coaxing a solid year out of Philip Rivers. They could do it again with Rodgers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs won a Super Bowl with an aging veteran Hall of Fame quarterback. Is it really so far-fetched they'd think about trying it again? I wrote recently about all the veterans the team has parted ways with, due to salary cap issues and veterans retiring and whatnot. And yet, they still have a vastly superior receiving duo than Rodgers has worked with for basically his entire career. There is still some defensive talent. And there's an NFC South absolutely ripe for the taking, with the Falcons and Panthers likely developing quarterbacks and the Saints with some roster concerns of their own.
There's been some speculating that the Packers wouldn't want to trade Rodgers within the NFC. Maybe that's not their preference. But what the hell. He's 39, and only the wildly optimistic Packers fan thinks they're actually making a Super Bowl run in Jordan Love's first year as a starter. They haven't gotten there in the last 13 years with Rodgers at quarterback, why would anyone expect they're getting there with Love? If Washington or Tampa Bay offers them a better package of picks than the Jets do, are they really going to say, Oh no, we don't want this guy maybe facing us at Lambeau or in the playoffs? C'mon.
Maybe all this speculation is moot, and Rodgers will be a Jet in the next week. But the longer it goes with no deal, the more reasonable it seems that the deal will ultimately involve someone else.