Aaron Rodgers was good enough for Mike Tomlin. Davante Adams was good enough for Sean McVay. And yet, neither were good enough for the New York Jets and a significant percentage of their fans. The *very bad men* were swiftly booted out of town, so *hope* could reign supreme, and so the unknown of freshness could provide warm-and-fuzzies in the gut.
Why? Think about that for a moment. These dudes were good enough for Super Bowl winners, yet not the Jets or their fans? How? In fact, the Jets decided to EAT MONEY to rid themselves of the no good, very bad men.
✅ I’m well aware of the responses that’ll come from this message, i.e., “It wouldn’t matter since the D is awful, Rodgers wouldn’t make a difference, it’s all about coaching (which, in many ways, I agree), etc.” Fine. Those responses are all well and good, but the point is much deeper and much more impactful …
The opening statement DOES matter as it relates to how this organization conducts itself when trying to find the correct path forward (which is THE most critical item at this moment). 🚨 Do the Jets make moves to purely win on the field, or do they too often allow the fanbase (and/or other matters) to impact things too much?
I don’t know what the answer is to that question, but I’m damn certain it’s legitimate to ask.
That’s why the Rodgers/Adams thing is so critical to ponder. The goal should be about winning games, and there isn’t a single individual who can argue the Jets would win fewer games with Rodgers/Adams as opposed to Justin Fields. It’s impossible. If anybody tried to argue this, I mean, we have way more sanity-questioning issues on our hands.
Moreover, if there is, indeed, any single individual in the Jets org (who has personnel influence) who believed Rodgers could no longer play in this league—based on last year’s film—they need to be GONE. It’s completely acceptable to want to go in another direction—a more modern direction with an athletic QB—but it’s foolhardy to pretend he can no longer play. Something like that should open eyes to the org when evaluating who has the goods when making personnel decisions. (Plus, everything must be buttoned-up beyond belief when choosing the athletic QB route; that obviously hasn’t been the case.)
Glenn’s actions this past offseason put even more of the onus on his and his staff’s shoulders, and it’s come up as a dud.
Toss your personal feelings about Rodgers aside, and while doing so, ask yourself this question: How much sense did this past offseason make in the grand scheme of trying to win football games?
Winning games is how a program builds a culture. It’s that simple, really.