Aaron Rodgers: Jets '100%' Have Problem with Leaks to Media amid Latest NFL Rumors
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZucker
Featured Columnist IVNovember 27, 2024
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers lamented the organization's continued inability to keep its business in-house amid a disappointing 2024 season.
Rodgers responded "100 percent, yes," on Wednesday when asked whether the Jets have an issue with personnel leaking information to the press.
If it feels like you've heard this from Rodgers before, that's because you have.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, he questioned the integrity of the media members writing about the team after reports surfaced over Zach Wilson's possible reluctance to take back the starting job.
Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow"When you use sources to try and assassinate someone's character like that report does for Zach I have a real hard time with that..<br><br>You're basically saying that this kid is quitting on the team and doesn't wanna play" <a href="https://twitter.com/AaronRodgers12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AaronRodgers12</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PMSLive?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PMSLive</a> <a href="https://t.co/b9WNCSIoKB">pic.twitter.com/b9WNCSIoKB</a>
In reference to details of team business getting out into the public, Rodgers said that the Jets "need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately."
In a postmortem of New York's 2023 campaign, The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini reported the comments "sent [head coach Robert] Saleh into a tailspin."
"The coach held a meeting with his staff two days later where he asked the leaker to reveal himself, according to multiple people in attendance," per The Athletic. "'If you come forward now, you won't get in trouble,' he told them while threatening to take their cell phones. Staffers were bemused by Saleh's obsession with the Wilson story and his reaction to it."
Here we are a year later and little has changed.
Rodgers' future in the Big Apple has become a particularly big story attracting attention away from what's happening on the field.
ESPN's Rich Cimini reported team owner Woody Johnson proposed benching the surefire Hall of Famer as far back as September. Russini and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport followed up with stories that Johnson and Rodgers might be independently ready to move on in the offseason.
For his part, the veteran signal-caller has denied making firm any decisions about 2025.
All of the drama that has surrounded the Jets over the last two years leads you to wonder whether Johnson would prefer starting with a totally clean slate—Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas have been fired—rather than attempting another foolhardy pursuit of a Super Bowl with Rodgers at the helm.