As if the New York Jets‘ season couldn’t get more dysfunctional, new reports have emerged that their controversial quarterback wants to continue his Hall of Fame career elsewhere in 2025. It’s looking more and more likely that he will get that wish, maybe even earlier than many anticipate.
The Jets have salary cap motivation to move on from Rodgers sooner rather than later
Rodgers’ contract will saddle the Jets with dead cap money, but by pulling the plug in 2025 instead of 2026 the Jets limit the damage to a certain extent. If cut in 2025, Rodgers will count for $49 million in dead cap next season. If the Jets were to foolishly try to run it back with Rodgers next season that dead cap number would balloon to $63 million in 2026.
This new report saves the Jets from possibly compounding their error with Rodgers, who initially said and did all the right things at the start while now predictably becoming disgruntled and failing to take accountability for his role in the mess the Jets have become.
The Jets could bench Rodgers, place him on IR, or cut him now
All of this leads to the inevitability that we’ve seen the last of Rodgers in green and white. Rodgers has been dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season and while he’s played through them the team could use it as an excuse to shut him down for the year and banish him to season-ending IR.
If the team chose to be more petty, they could simply bench him and let backup QB Tyrod Taylor take the reins, throwing salt in the wound as it would send a clear message that New York acknowledges he’s healthy enough to play but not the best option to actually win football games at this point.
Lastly, New York could go nuclear and cut him now, ending another Gotham Green-tinged nightmare for the fans. This is the most unlikely path, however, as there’s no financial benefit to granting Rodgers a head start on finding his next opportunity.
Whatever the path the team takes, it looks like there will be a lot of Tyrod Taylor in everyone’s future.
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Tyrod Taylor will likely be auditioning for the 2025 starting QB job
Shutting down Rodgers and getting an extended look at what Taylor can put on tape in the season’s final weeks is the best decision for the franchise. The journeyman QB is under contract for 2025 at a reasonable cap number of $6.8 million. With plenty of starting experience, the 35-year-old has a shot to earn the role of bridge QB next season, ideally mentoring a prominent rookie.
New York doesn’t have any other real options at this point. Rookie Jordan Travis just passed the one-year anniversary of his gruesome injury and hasn’t yet fully recovered. The other QB options for the Jets are practice squad fodder, not capable of beating out Taylor.
The only clear piece of the 2025 QB puzzle is Rodgers won’t be a part of it for Gang Green, so in the meantime, it makes the most sense to evaluate the top internal option ahead of what will be an active offseason in Florham Park.
