The Green Bay Packers have been doing alright since Aaron Rodgers’ departure after the 2022 season. In the past two seasons with Jordan Love, the Packers have made the playoffs twice and are comfortable enough with their new signal caller to give him a four-year, $220 million contract extension last summer.
But while the Packers have been thriving, things have been different for Rodgers. He tore his Achilles in his first game with the New York Jets in 2023. When he returned, he got head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas fired as the Jets limped to a 5-12 record.
The last season led to Rodgers’s release and his first venture into free agency. But while Rodgers has the power to choose his destination, his delusion continues to get in the way in a situation that Packers fans still adore.
Aaron Rodgers Sets The Record Straight On Departure From Jets, Free Agency
Rodgers made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday afternoon and it was exactly what you would expect. While he doesn’t pay attention to rumors, he was moved enough by them to make an appearance on McAfee’s show to clear the air about his divorce from the Jets and his subsequent free agent tour.
It began in February when Rodgers made a cross-country flight on his own dime to meet new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. While he recalls an amicable conversation with general manager Darren Mougey, he painted Glenn as the bad cop in this situation, going rouge and kicking Rodgers to the curb.
“So we sit down in the office and I think we’re gonna have this long conversation. I’ve flown across the country and 20 seconds in, he goes, I mean literally, I’m talking to the GM about something. And he leans to the edge of his seat and goes ‘Are you sure you want to play football?’ I was like ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’ And he said ‘We’re going another direction at quarterback.’”
"I figured when I flew across country to meet with the Jets there was gonna be a conversation..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 17, 2025
We sat down in the office & 20 seconds in the coach said we're going in a different direction..
That's totally fine but they could have just told me that on the phone" ~… pic.twitter.com/By7QvLK7tM
Rodgers went on to lament the fact that the Jets could have called him to relay this information, although Brian Gutekunst tried to call Rodgers “many times” during his split with the Packers in 2023 and never got a response. Regardless, Rodgers further described the conversation via Rodgers’s “verbatim” account.
“And I said ‘What does that even mean? Are you assuming I would be in the back of the room during a team meeting undermining what you’re saying?’ and he said ‘You don’t know me.’ And then I said, ‘Exactly. Which is why I flew across the country to have a face-to-face meeting with you to talk about my experience with the Jets and hear your vision for the team.”
Instead, Rodgers was released on March 12 and dove into free agency. While reports circled around Rodgers pitching himself to the Minnesota Vikings and waiting for a response, he said those talks were formed around his relationship with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
He also stated that his March 21 visit to Pittsburgh Steelers was intended to be a clandestine operation to “get a glimpse, a snippet of what life would be like in Pittsburgh.”
Ultimately, Rodgers didn’t offer a timeline on when his next step would be and has been transparent with the teams pursuing his services.
“I wasn’t stringing anyone along. I wasn’t holding anyone hostage,” Rodgers said. “I was honest from the jump about where I was at mentally and some of the constraints I have in my life right now that warrant my attention. I’m open to anything and attached to nothing. Retirement could still be a possibility, but right now my focus has been – and will continue to be – on my personal life. And that’s what I’ve told the coaches. There’s still conversations that are being had. It’s all been very honest lines of communication.”
This wraps up the Rodgers experience for now. Everything is a misunderstanding. The mean, old Jets coach kicked him to the curb. He’s got some things to sort through. He’s willing to play for $10 million next season. He even (jokingly) accused the NFL and the government for making his internet lag from his Malibu beach home while explaining himself. It’s all to curb the attention he’s getting for clearing the air on a nationally syndicated talk show.
Maybe it’s this kind of thinking that persuaded the Packers to move on after 18 years and a championship in Green Bay. And it’s the kind of rationale that has Rodgers looking for work.