Even after they swung a shocking midseason trade for star wide receiver Davante Adams, the New York Jets could not end the longest playoff drought in the NFL. New York‘s individual names and talents never did form a cohesive whole in 2024, and so the Jets‘ barren run has continued — and there are going to be consequences for or from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers made his return from a long-term injury in September, but the Jets ended the season with nine losses from their final 12 games and never came close to challenging the Buffalo Bills for AFC East supremacy. But was that reality a function of Rodgers losing a step (or several) following his long layoff? Or a matter of the Jets being the Jets? One of Gang Green‘s old signal-callers — and someone known to Rodgers — has chimed in, and the answer could come as a surprise.
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Favre: Rodgers should keep playing…but maybe not for the Jets
After suffering an Achilles tendon rupture on the fourth snap of the 2023 season, Rodgers came back in 2024 and played every single game for a 5-12 Jets team. However, Jets owner Woody Johnston contemplated interfering and benching Rodgers at one point, seeking a “spark” that never came for his underachieving group.
But Rodgers put enough good tape out there to where Brett Favre, his former Green Bay Packers teammate and a former Jets quarterback himself, is convinced that Rodgers can continue to play at a high level in 2025 — if he wants to, that is.
“He’s got something left,” Favre said in a recent interview. “I think I’m right in saying that he has a lot of juice left in the tank.”
Rodgers is the NFL’s oldest active player, let alone quarterback, and there were times in 2024 when he showed his age; his completion rate of 63 percent was his lowest since 2019. But Rodgers had a respectable 28-11 touchdown-interception ratio despite a midseason coach firing and numerous other problems he had with Jets ownership, paving the way for the four-time MVP to continue playing elsewhere if he so chooses.
But which team would want to take a chance on a quarterback who will turn 42 years old in the second half of next season? Even Favre is wondering as much, as the NFL gets younger and younger — and teams grow more and more impatient for quick success.
“I just know that he still can play,” Favre said. “It’s just a matter of does he want to and does he want to give it his all and does a team want to take a chance on him.”
