Despite reports indicating that Aaron Rodgers begged the New York Jets for another chance, Dianna Russini asserts that the quarterback was ready for a change. Last week, the Jets officially announced their decision to part ways with Rodgers, expressing gratitude for all the good times they shared, whatever those might have been. Following this, the New York Post published a report claiming Rodgers had urged the Jets for another opportunity before accepting their decision “like a man going to the gallows.”
Russini, however, countered this narrative during her appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, emphasizing that she was not engaging in a source-off. She stated, “I refuse to do the source-off and dig on who is saying what because I just went through it for two years with the Jets, and it comes with a lot of heat. I’ll just go with what I know, and nobody had shared with me that Rodgers was begging to stay a New York Jet. In fact, I knew that Aaron Rodgers wanted his time in New York to end as well. He realized this chapter was over a while ago. So unless he had a change of heart and suddenly fell in love with the Jersey Shore, I find it hard to believe he was sitting there saying, ‘Woody, let’s fix this…’ I don’t believe any of that.”
What really went down between @AaronRodgers12 and the @nyjets? And did @TheAthleticNFL insider drop a breadcrumb about a possible home for the future Hall of Famer?#NFL #NFLCombine #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/aJkHl1MDwk
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 19, 2025
Anyone who has followed Rodgers’ recent calculated moves would find it hard to believe that the 41-year-old quarterback was begging to return to New York after a disappointing 5-12 season. While Rodgers was indeed the most intriguing and talented quarterback prospect for next season, a reunion with the Jets never made logistic sense, even if he had attempted to plead for it. With playoff aspirations dashed, a new head coach and general manager would be unlikely to choose a divisive quarterback with no real future with the team or in the league. Most of the NFL had reached this conclusion months ago, and it’s clear Rodgers recognized the direction his tenure in New York was heading.
Perhaps Rodgers believed he still had productive football left in him, but the notion of him pleading for a third season in New York is hard to reconcile. Even if the past two seasons have humbled him somewhat, everything we know about Rodgers suggests that the idea of him begging the Jets for another opportunity is simply implausible.
