The Wide World of Dirt

Months of exhausting media rumors and foreplay have finally come to an end.

Aaron Rodgers is now a New York Jet.

If someone on Twitter pitched this idea to me a year ago, I would have bookmarked it for the day Rodgers retired as a Packer.

Only one season removed from Rodgers hoisting his second consecutive MVP, the vaunted gunslinger now takes his talents to the City that Never Sleeps.

It was just March 16th, 2022 when Aaron Rodgers gleefully announced that he was the highest paid player in American professional sports, signing a three-year contract extension to stay in Wisconsin.

Rodgers would be paired up with his favorite weapon Davante Adams in Brown County for many years to come, but before the ink dried on Aaron’s extension, Brian Gudekunst’s pen struck deal to send Adams to Sin City.

Not only would Rodgers be without his best receiver, Gudekunst failed to draft his QB a high-flying player to replace Adams in the first round.

Instead the Packers’ GM opted to wait until the second round to trade up for North Dakota State product Christian Watson while adding sure-handed Nevada receiver Romeo Doubs in the fourth round.

Montez Valdes-Scantling left the team in free agency as well, meaning Aaron was left with two unproven rookies and Allen Lazard for his receiving corps.

For what it’s worth, they also brought back veteran and former Packer Randall Cobb back to Lambeau Field as a way to smooth over Adams’ departure.

The results? Bad.

Rodgers failed to throw for 300 yards in a game throughout the 2022 season, the first time that’s happened since he inherited the starting gig in 2008.

His connections with the new blood lagged, leading to an abysmal 3-8 start. Lazard couldn’t keep up with Adams’ elite production, picking up a career-high 768 yards.

Watson and Doubs struggled to hold their own, each racking up just over 40 catches over 17 games.

Watson began to break out later in the season as his chemistry and timing with Rodgers improved, but that only resulted in a 600-yard season for a guy who was supposed to be their new #1 receiver.

Doubs moved the chains on half of his receptions, though his yardage statistics left a lot to be desired.

Despite leading the team on a five-game winning streak, the Packers faced their division foe, the Detroit Lions, in a win-or-go-home week 18 matchup.

Backs against the wall, the Packers chased the Lions for much of the game before pulling ahead late in the third quarter 16-13.

The persistence of Dan Campbell and Co. brought Detroit back into the game with a Jamaal Williams touchdown on the goal line with under six minutes to go.

Rodgers looked to make a statement the following drive, hoping to tame the Lions for the 19th time in his career.

Two consecutive incompletions left the Packers with a daunting 3rd & 10 from their own 33-yard line with 3:41 on the clock.

The four-time MVP stepped back and threw a rainbow down the right side line for Watson in what would be his final play as a Packer.

Lions DB Kerby Joseph read the play like a chidren’s book, intercepting the pass at the Detroit 32-yard line and giving the Lions the ball with little time remaining.

Detroit moved the ball down the field until time expired, clinching second place in the NFC North and denying Green Bay a chance at postseason success.

Nothing but speculation has swirled since that bitter January night, with Rodgers being linked to practically every contending team in the NFL with a QB vacancy.

He could’ve gone to Tampa to replace a retired Tom Brady. He could’ve gone home to San Francisco, the team that ended two of his previous three playoff appearances.

Aaron could’ve gone to Las Vegas to link up with Adams again. He could’ve retired. What he chose was to enter the dark, literally.

A four-day stay at a remote cabin in Oregon saw the embattled field general leave well-rested and ready to meet with his most prominent suitor, the New York Jets.

Fighting retirement thoughts (and allegedly, the dreaded Hatman), Rodgers returned to the light in March on the Pat McAfee Show to declare his intent to play for the Jets.

After weeks of agonizing compensation conversations, the Jets and the Packers agreed to a deal that sent Rodgers, the 15th pick in 2023, and a 2023 5th-rounder for the 13th pick in 2023, a 2023 2nd rounder, and a 2023 6th-round pick.

The deal also includes a conditional 2024 2nd-round pick that upgrades to a 1st round selection if Rodgers plays more than 65% of the Jets’ snaps this season.

This is a trade that works out well for both sides.

The Packers were ready to move on and were in desperate need of draft capital to surround Jordan Love with marquee talent.

The Jets flopped on their most recent QB selection and have a defense ready to conquer AFC opponents. They needed a skilled conductor on offense to help keep the defense off of the field.

The Jets’ most recent QB selection? Zach Wilson.

Winning just 9 games in 23 career starts, Wilson’s stats don’t give his supporters much evidence to stand on, completing just 55.2% of his passes with a paltry 15-18 touchdown-interception ratio.

Not only that, Wilson’s aloof demeanor after poor showings last season sparked up a hotbed of criticism from teammates and media alike.

The Jets know they are capable of contending right now. The QB position was one of the weakest points on the roster, so they rectified that with Ayahuasca Aaron.

The hope is also that Rodgers will help develop Wilson into a competent passer at the pro level, a hope more akin to a pipe dream in my opinion.

We’re talking about a guy that missed a wide open guy by 10 feet in the flat last year against New England in one of the worst modern NFL games ever broadcast.

Thank god for Marcus Jones, saving all of us from an overtime.

Is it possible for Wilson to be rehabilitated by having Rodgers as his mentor? Absolutely. We have seen much crazier developments in this league.

We’re coming off of 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant nearly swiping the Rookie of the Year away from Jets’ wideout Garrett Wilson last year. Anything. Is. Possible.

My prediction is that Wilson gets traded and wastes away in Las Vegas or another third-rate organization immune to winning either this year or next.

I say that because there’s no way a multi-billion dollar organization is giving a fifth-year option to a guy that has played as poorly as Wilson to this point.

For now, Wilson will have to ride the pine behind Rodgers in the Big Apple, putting the Zach Wilson era in New York on indefinite hiatus.