NEW YORK — Aaron Rodgers says he wants to play for the Jets.
That was the news Gang Green nation wanted to hear from the superstar quarterback as he made an appearance Wednesday afternoon on “The Pat McAfee Show” with more than 480,000 tuning in to the YouTube show.
“Since Friday, I’ve said my intention was to play and to play for the New York Jets,” the four-time NFL MVP said.
But Rodgers made it clear that he is still under contract to the Green Bay Packers, so this isn’t a done deal yet. Now the Packers and Jets have to work out a deal that puts the 39-year-old QB in green and white.
Speaking from Southern California, Rodgers said it wasn’t until Friday that he realized he wanted to continue his career and not walk into retirement.
He said he told the Jets contingent — owner Woody Johnson, GM Joe Douglas, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and head coach Robert Saleh — that flew out to California last week to meet with him in person that “I’m not ready to make a decision about anything.”
But now he is. And he is ready to move on from the Packers.
Rogers, who went on a darkness retreat in Oregon, said he found out when he emerged that the Packers were ready to move on from him and hand the team over to Jordan Love.
“It was clear to me at that point, although they were gonna say the right thing publicly, they were ready to move on,” Rodgers said.
He said he wished Green Bay had made that clear to him at the beginning of the offseason.
Rodgers called the idea of moving on from the team that drafted him with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft “bittersweet.”
He said he spent time during his retreat thinking about both scenarios: retiring or returning for a 19th season in the NFL.
