Aaron Rodgers spoke publicly on Thursday for the first time about the way his tenure with the New York Jets ended, and it is safe to say the quarterback is not happy with how the situation was handled.
The Jets decided in early February that they were moving on from Rodgers. There was a report at the time that Rodgers had flown to New Jersey to meet with the team’s front office, at which point he was given the news.
Rodgers shared some details about that meeting during a Thursday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He said he flew across the country, assuming he was going to have a lengthy meeting with New York’s brass, whether they wanted him to return to the team in 2025 or not. What took place instead was a 20-minute conversation that “shocked” Rodgers.
According to Rodgers, new Jets general manager Darren Mougey first asked the 41-year-old if he wants to play in 2025. Rodgers said he was “interested,” at which point Mougey immediately informed Rodgers the Jets were “going in a different direction.”
“I was kind of shocked … not shocked because I didn’t think that was a possibility,” Rodgers said. “Of course, if they wanna move on, that’s totally fine. But shocked because I just flew across the country and you could have told me this on the phone if we weren’t even gonna have a conversation.”
Rodgers said Mougey then asked the former MVP how he wanted the “messaging” to be handled with the release. When Rodgers told Mougey that Rodgers doesn’t “give a s– about the messaging,” Mougey said he wanted to be sure the GM was not going to be addressing the team and have players looking back at Rodgers to see his reaction.
“And I said, ‘What does that even mean? Are you assuming that I would be in the back of a room in a team meeting undermining what you’re saying?’” Rodgers recalled asking Mougey. “I said, ‘You don’t know me.’ And he said, ‘You don’t know me.’ And 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 to hear your vision for the team.’
“What I thought was gonna be a couple-hour meeting turned into like a 15-minute meeting, and I walked out of there. That was a strange meeting for sure.”
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