Two insiders are confident that the trade sending Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets will get done before the 2023 NFL draft.
Albert Breer of SI.com reported the deal could get done this week and will “certainly” be done before the draft.
Dan Graziano of ESPN reported that much of the deal is already “done,” and a trade that doesn’t include the Jets’ 2023 first-rounder will be finished before the draft.
The first round of the 2023 draft begins on Thursday, April 27, giving the Packers and Jets exactly four weeks – or roughly a month – to complete the deal.
Neither Brian Gutekunst nor Joe Douglas sounded in a big hurry to finish the trade while speaking at the NFL Annual Meetings, even if both would prefer the deal to get done sooner rather than later. The Packers would prefer picks in the 2023 draft, while the Jets want Rodgers in the building as soon as possible.
Graziano heard from multiple sources that the Packers are not dead set on getting the 13th overall pick in the trade, which aligns with what Gutekunst said in Phoenix earlier this week.
The Packers still believe Rodgers is a premier player and are attempting to get maximum compensation in return, even if a first-round pick in 2023 isn’t involved. It’s looking more and more likely that a second-round pick in 2023 and conditional picks in 2024 and even 2025 will be involved in the final deal.
