1. Blasts. Skewers. Tore into. Lashes out. Hammers.
Those were all the words used in headlines across the Worldwide Web to describe Adam Schefter’s comments on Aaron Rodgers.
The ESPN insider appeared on the Jen, Gabe & Chewy podcast and said the following:
“To me, this shouldn’t be that hard, right? Like, the Steelers want you. The Giants want you. We’re seeing players across the league make decisions. It shouldn’t be that hard. Either you want to play or you don’t. You want to play in Pittsburgh or you don’t. You want to play in New York or you don’t. Like, Chewy, what are you going to have for lunch? You gonna make a decision or are you gonna drag it out for four days, five days, a week? It’s not that hard. Make a decision and live with it.”
Schefter is tired of the Aaron Rodgers waiting game pic.twitter.com/cGcAnl4iLy
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 12, 2025
These comments, while strong, hardly warranted those inflammatory headlines, but that doesn’t matter in the clickbait world of aggregation we live in. I was expecting so much more, but instead, all I got was, “Make a decision already.”
What I did find fascinating, though, is that it is unusual to see Schefter call out a player. Again, I hardly think what Schefter said about Rodgers was an attack. It’s the fact that Schefter would single out Rodgers that intrigues me.
Would Schefter had said this about players whose agents fed him signing news all week? Schefter has mentioned agents in his free-agency tweets all week.
Free-agent safety Xavier Woods reached agreement today on a two-year, $10 million deal with the Tennessee Titans. Trevon Smith of Athletes First negotiated the deal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2025
Free-agent defensive lineman Deatrich Wise agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million with the Commanders. Deal negotiated by Drew Rosenhaus.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2025
Another RB finds a home: Indianapolis Colts and free-agent RB Khalil Herbert reached agreement on a one-year contract.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2025
Deal negotiated by @EquitySports VP of Football Samantha Sankovich and CEO Chris Cabott. pic.twitter.com/T8E6gOofdw
Trust me when I tell you this is just a sampling. I could embed plenty of more tweets from Schefter just like these.
There’s also the issue of Rodgers famously telling Schefter to “lose his number” a few years ago. Clearly, there is no relationship between Rodgers and Schefter, and Rodgers has made it clear during his apperances with Pat McAfee that he isn’t a fan of Schefter’s, so it would seem Schefter would be more comfortable criticizing Rodgers.
Which he did. The only problem is that the criticism didn’t make a ton of sense.
For starters, free agency kicked off on Monday. Schefter made these comments on Wednesday. It’s not like Rodgers has made teams wait for weeks on his decision. It was two days into free agency when Schefter made his comments about Rodgers.
Schefter also lost me when he tried comparing Rodgers trying to decide where (and maybe even if) he wants to play next season to trying to decide what to have for lunch. There are millions and millions and millions of dollars at stake in Rodgers’s decision. That's a little different than deciding between a salad or sandwich. This was weak and made Schefter sound foolish.
In Schefter’s defense, Rodgers knew he was going to be cut from the Jets for a while. He’d had some time to mull the decision on his future. But he’s not obligated to sign in any certain time period, especially since free agency just started on Monday and Rodgers wasn’t officially cut until Wednesday.
The teams reportedly in the running for Rodgers’s services, the Steelers and Giants most notably, know that Rodgers comes with baggage. If those teams feel like Rodgers is dragging this on and stringing them along, don’t sign him. It’s as simple as that. Rodgers has every right to take as long as he wants to make a decision and teams have every right to pass on signing him if he's taking too long to make a decision.
In a highly humorous twist in the Schefter-Rodgers saga, while all this was going on, the Daily Mail dropped in to let us know Rodgers was enjoying some beach time, complete with a story and truly ridiculous headline that read, “Downcast Aaron Rodgers looks to the ocean for answers as he faces toughest call of his life.”
EXCLUSIVE: Solemn Aaron Rodgers caught strolling along a beach as he continues to ponder his NFL future 👀 pic.twitter.com/OJGa0ylzTY
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) March 12, 2025
We can only imagine that Adam Schefter must think about Aaron Rodgers walking along the beach while holding up the Steelers and Giants.
2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast dropped this morning. This week’s show features a conversation with CBS college football and college basketball studio host Adam Zucker.
Zucker talks about what it’s like for him to replace Greg Gumbel as NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Selection Show host and what Gumbel meant to Zucker as a mentor.
In addition, Zucker goes in-depth on what it’s like to host the Selection Show, handle studio duties for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and to work with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith for the tournament.
Zucker also reveals whether he’d have interest in covering the NFL, how he got into broadcasting and why he once got suspended from doing in-school announcements.
Following Zucker, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Twitter going down during the peak of NFL free agency, having alerts/notifications on your phone, The Wire vs. The Sopranos, and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
3. Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (after a wild travel that wasn’t called) hit a game-winning three-pointer in overtime against the Blazers. The dagger led to the rare double bang by Mike Breen.
BANG! BANG! 🚨
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 13, 2025
MIKAL BRIDGES BUZZER BEATER IN OT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/3vmZGFKBz4
Meanwhile, Portland’s broadcast team was hilariously despondent.
Mikal Bridges kills the mics on the Blazers broadcast with the game winning three pic.twitter.com/VL6PboOLJz
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 13, 2025
4. Pat McAfee not knowing who sings “Since U Been Gone,” despite being able to belt out the banger, is one of the most mind-boggling things I’ve ever seen.
🎶SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE🎶#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/9aU9uWJWec
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 12, 2025
5. Here’s what I wrote in Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts regarding Stephen A. Smith saying he didn’t want to address his confrontation last week with LeBron James and then going on a bunch of shows to talk about his confrontation with LeBron James:
“Smith, who did not want to address the situation, has basically talked about the situation every single day since tweeting that, with his latest comments on LeBron coming via Gilbert Arenas’s podcast.”
Smith continued his media tour regarding LeBron on Wednesday, this time appearing on a Fox News show. Where will Smith talk about LeBron today?
6. Only posting this because I had Arkansas -4.5 yesterday and I’d like some sympathy.
A MIRACLE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA +4.5 BETTORS!
— br_betting (@br_betting) March 12, 2025
They came back from down 21 for this backdoor cover 🤣 pic.twitter.com/iP4tMPwEyY
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Bill Burr has a new stand-up special debuting tomorrow on Hulu. I cannot wait. Here’s a little teaser.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple , Spotify or Google . You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram .
This article was originally published on www.si.com as There’s a Lot Going on With Adam Schefter vs. Aaron Rodgers .
