The inside story behind the twists and turns that brought Aaron Rodgers to the Jets
Joe Douglas had fallen asleep on the couch in his New Jersey living room on the night of March 12 with his cell phone in his hand.
Around 12:30 a.m., the phone rang.
It was David Dunn, the agent for Aaron Rodgers, calling from California. It was a call the Jets general manager had been waiting for. It was a call the entire Jets organization had been waiting for. Heck, it was a call that the entire NFL world had been waiting for.
“Aaron’s playing and he wants to be a New York Jet,” Dunn told Douglas.
Months of conversations and debates had led to this. Rodgers, a four-time league MVP, wanted to play for the Jets, a team that has not been in the Super Bowl since the days leading up to Richard Nixon’s inauguration.
Now, Douglas found himself alone with this monumental news as Sunday night turned into Monday morning. He ran around his house muffling his screams so that he would not wake up his family. The family dogs gave Douglas strange looks. He began firing off text messages to others inside the Jets organization to see if anyone was awake. No one was.
Douglas stayed up until 4 a.m., unable to sleep, knowing the Jets organization was on the verge of a historic moment.
In the morning, he connected with coach Robert Saleh, who pointed out the Jets still had not heard confirmation from Rodgers himself that he wanted to be a Jet.
It would be three more days before Rodgers told the world of his intention on “The Pat McAfee Show” and another six weeks before Rodgers would actually become a Jet, what Douglas would call: “Ultimately being able to get what we feel is a historic trade for this franchise.”
This is the story of how the Jets came to acquire one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history from those who were involved this offseason.
Looking at options
As the dust from the 2022 season settled, the Jets began to formulate their list of quarterback options. The team had just finished 7-10, losing its final six games. It had wasted a strong defense and emerging young skill players largely because of poor quarterback play. Zach Wilson’s confidence had been shattered and the Jets knew they could not go into 2023 with him as their starter.
Days after the season ended, owner Woody Johnson said he would “absolutely” spend big on a veteran quarterback and called it the “missing piece.”
The front office and coaches began to go through the list of every potential quarterback option from the long shots like Daniel Jones hitting free agency to players expected to be available like Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo.
At the time, it was unclear what the future held for Rodgers. The Packers and their star had done a strange dance for years, and the 2023 offseason looked like it would be a continuation of that. The Jets narrowed their list to three or four players and Rodgers was at the top of the list.
Douglas and Packers GM Brian Gutekunst spoke in January and the Packers still were not sure what their plan was, but Douglas told Gutekunst the Jets would have interest if Rodgers became available.
During this time, the Jets also hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. Hackett had spent three seasons in Green Bay with Rodgers and the two had a close bond, fueling more speculation that Rodgers would eventually be a Jet.
Out of the darkness
Hanging over the entire possibility of Rodgers was the unknown of what he wanted to do. Would he retire? If he wanted to keep playing, did he want to finish his career as a Packer? Would he even consider the Jets?
Rodgers went on his “darkness retreat” in late February and contemplated his future.
The Jets knew they could not just wait on Rodgers and they began courting Carr, who had been released by the Raiders. They met with him in New Jersey and then again at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
At the combine during the first week of March, it became clear the Packers were ready to trade Rodgers. The Packers reached out to the Jets and told them that they were one of the teams Rodgers was interested in and gave the Jets permission to speak to Dunn about Rodgers.
This was not a typical trade where teams search for the highest bidder. Rodgers did not have a no-trade clause, but effectively did because no team was trading for him unless it knew he wanted to play there. He also had a monster contract that would have to be handled by the acquiring team.
The Packers were only going to negotiate with the team Rodgers wanted to go to. Douglas and Gutekunst spoke by phone during the combine about a trade. At the time the Packers were looking for a deal similar to what the Seahawks got for Russell Wilson and the Lions got for Matthew Stafford. Both deals included two first-round picks. The Jets had no interest in trading two first-round picks for a 39-year-old who might play only one season in New York.
The trade could have died there, but the Packers granted the Jets permission to speak to Rodgers directly even though the two teams had not agreed on trade compensation, which was highly unusual and would set the stage for a dramatic standoff.
California dreaming
The Jets and Rodgers began having phone conversations on Monday, March 6. After a few calls, the Jets decisionmakers huddled up and discussed the next step. Typically, teams invite prospective players to visit them. Saleh proposed the Jets traveling to visit Rodgers to show how serious they were. Saleh called Rodgers and asked if they could visit him at his Malibu home. He agreed.
The next day, Saleh, Douglas, team president Hymie Elhai and Hackett boarded a private jet from New Jersey. Woody Johnson flew from Florida and his brother and team vice chairman Christopher flew from Colorado.
Christopher Johnson arrived about 30 minutes before everyone else and instantly bonded with Rodgers. The rest of the group arrived and they spent five hours at Rodgers’ home in a casual, get-to-know-you session. Rodgers hit it off with Woody Johnson as well as Douglas and Saleh with Hackett serving as a friendly face for the quarterback.
The Jets did not want this to be a business meeting and did not arrive with a hard pitch for Rodgers. There were no PowerPoint presentations. Instead, the Jets wanted Rodgers to be able to ask them questions and find out about their philosophy. They discussed the Jets roster and spent the day figuring out if it was a match.
The Jets did not press him about how long he would play or whether he would participate in the offseason program.
“We had a nice conversation,” Rodgers would say later. “I told them, ‘Listen, I’m not ready to make a decision about anything. I want to get back into my workouts and see how it feels to really hit it hard for a week and to see if that drive and passion is still there.’ ”
Saleh and Woody Johnson parked their cars on the street, which attracted photographers, which amused Rodgers.
Jets ownership flew home while the others spent the night at a Santa Monica hotel wondering what would come next.
A blackout moment
The Jets’ permission to speak to Rodgers expired on March 11, the Saturday after the Tuesday meeting and two days before the free agency negotiating window opened.
Douglas spoke with Rodgers on the night of March 10 for the last time. Rodgers still did not say what his plans were, but there was a sense he was not retiring.
The Jets had to sweat out the weekend, wondering if Rodgers was coming and trying to figure out where to pivot if he did not. Carr had signed with the Saints the week before. Like fans on sports talk radio, the Jets brass debated whether they should just go all in on Carr before he signed with the Saints. They decided to ride it out with Rodgers, who was their No. 1 choice.
Still, as of Sunday night they did not know what his plans were and they knew free agents would be flying off the board the following day.
That is when Dunn’s late-night call to Douglas came and eased their concerns … somewhat. They still wanted to hear it from Rodgers.
The Jets and Packers continued to talk about trade parameters but had nothing close.
Then, Rodgers went on “The Pat McAfee Show” that Wednesday and everything changed.
Douglas, Saleh, Elhai and Jets senior vice president Eric Gelfand gathered in Douglas’ office to watch McAfee. Moments before Rodgers was coming on the show, the power went out in the Jets’ Florham Park headquarters. After a brief moment of panic, the power came back on.
“It is my intention to play for the Jets,” Rodgers said in the most monumental Jets quote since Joe Namath guaranteed Super Bowl III.
Everyone in Douglas’ office looked at each other, sharing the same “I can’t believe this is happening” feeling.
But the appearance on McAfee slowed down the negotiations with the Packers. The Jets were worried that Rodgers said he was “90 percent retired” entering the darkness retreat. The Packers were annoyed with how Rodgers portrayed them.
The trade negotiations stopped.
Dealing in the desert
Talks resumed in late March just before the league meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. Douglas and Gutekunst had phone calls before meeting that week at the Biltmore Resort for the only face-to-face negotiation in this whole process.
The Packers had backed off the demand for two first-round picks but were insisting on a first-rounder in 2024. The Jets wanted to give them a second-round pick in the 2023 draft and a conditional pick in 2024 that could become a first-round pick only if certain conditions were met.
There was still a gap between the two sides but it was narrowing.
The finish line
There was a lull in negotiations again after the league meetings. The two sides always knew that the draft would serve as a soft deadline to get things done. The Packers wanted a pick in this year’s draft. The Jets wanted to get Rodgers into their building as soon as possible.
A week before the draft, the trade talks intensified. The Packers moved off the demand for an unconditional 2024 first-round pick. The Jets softened the conditions on the second-round pick becoming a first-rounder in 2024. The two sides negotiated through the weekend.
On the Monday before the draft, the two sides agreed on two pick swaps this year, one trading first-round picks (13 and 15) and one trading a Packers fifth-rounder for a Jets sixth-rounder. The Jets also agreed that the conditional second-round pick in 2024 would become a first-round pick if Rodgers played 65 percent of the offensive snaps in 2023, an easier bar to clear than what the Jets had asked for earlier. In addition, the Jets sent a 2023 second-round pick to the Packers.
Douglas was sitting in a draft meeting when Gutekunst called. The two talked for 45 minutes and finalized the deal. Douglas presented it to Woody Johnson, who signed off on it. Douglas called Gutekunst back and said they had a deal.
Douglas then informed David Socie, the team’s senior director of football administration, that the paperwork was coming his way.
As he spoke to Socie, Douglas looked across the hall to the draft room, where Saleh and others were. He flashed a thumbs up to Saleh and the room exploded. Douglas then walked in and said, “We have our quarterback.”
The afterglow
A day after the trade was agreed to, Rodgers flew to Florham Park. The next morning, he walked into One Jets Drive wearing a Jets hooded sweatshirt and was greeted at the door by the Johnsons, Saleh, Douglas and Elhai.
Months of talk had become reality. Rodgers was really a Jet.
Rodgers completed his physical and Douglas signed the trade papers. Someone snapped a photo of Douglas signing them and passed it along to him as a memento.
The biggest press conference the Jets have had in more than a decade came a short time later.
“I’m an old guy, so I want to be part of a team that can win it all,” Rodgers said. “I believe this is a place we can get that done.”
The Rodgers effect is already being felt inside the Jets. In his first two weeks, he has connected with teammates, coaches and staffers in a way that the Jets only could have dreamed of. He has embraced New York City by attending Knicks and Rangers playoff games.
Jets season-ticket and suite sales are up 400 percent to date versus all of last year.
In the first two days Rodgers was officially a Jet, Fanatics reported they had sold $900,000 in Aaron Rodgers gear and the total Jets eCommerce sales was $1.2 million.
The Jets website and social media has exploded since Rodgers joined the team. The Rodgers press conference was the most viewed live event in Jets history with 750,000 views across all of their social media platforms.
The true Rodgers effect won’t be felt until he takes his first snap in a Jets uniform. But it is already clear he has altered the franchise.
It was a long, winding road to get here. One that began with hypothetical conversations in January, featured a darkness retreat in February, grew to meetings and McAfee in March and continued through the final conversations and a press conference in April.
The story will continue to unfold in the coming months. The Jets hope the best chapters come next January and February.
