Aaron Rodgers is no Matthew Stafford

Stafford set the stage for designing his own trade, but Rodgers picked the wrong team

If it weren’t for Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers might not be playing for the New York Jets. Maybe he would have picked the Rams.

Few will remember it this way because college football and NFL norms are changing so rapidly — there are no “norms” anymore — but Stafford’s request to be traded by the Detroit Lions in 2021 was historic. Stafford is hardly the best quarterback to ever be traded, but before 2021 they weren’t traded in the middle of their careers.

Johnny Unitas went to the Chargers when he was 40.

Joe Montana went to the Chiefs when he was 37 and hadn’t played in two years.

Even Kurt Warner was only allowed to leave the Rams because he didn’t win a game for two years and was 0-7 as the starter, playing far worse than backup Marc Bulger.

Teams simply did not ALLOW franchise quarterbacks to leave the franchise while they still had gas left in the tank unless there were extenuating circumstances. It did. not. happen.

Until Matthew Stafford went to the Lions after they had hired Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes and he said, “I can’t do another rebuild. Let me go.”

Stafford Changed Everything

Sean McVay was more than happy to appease him, Les Snead was the GM best suited to work with Holmes to acquire him. Matthew Stafford’s request for a trade three years ago changed the NFL.

Russell Wilson. Deshaun Watson. Aaron Rodgers.

All of a sudden, NFL quarterback realized that not only do they have agency in their futures, they are more powerful than the team. If Rodgers wanted to stay in Green Bay, all he really had to do was rile up the Packers fans and say, “I WANT TO STAY! I WANT TO STAY!” and he would have made Green Bay ownership look idiotic for trading a four-time MVP who at the time could presumably still play football.

With or without Jordan Love, the Packers may not have been able to trade Rodgers without Rodgers granting approval. After all, it wasn’t like Rodgers was traded to the Jets…

Rodgers went to the Packers and TOLD THEM: “You’re trading me to the Jets. You’ll take whatever you can get but not too much”…and they did it.

(Did the Packers trade Brett Favre to make room for Rodgers in 2008 when he was roughly at the same stage of his career as Rodgers? Fair enough, yes they did.)

With quarterback contracts being where they are now compared to 2008, that’s another factor that plays into these trades. The Seahawks didn’t want to pay Wilson again. The Browns had to give Watson a fully-guaranteed deal to get him to agree to go to Cleveland. The Packers wanted to reap the benefits of a quarterback who won’t cost a whole lot until 2026.

For Stafford, the trade wasn’t about money. It was about winning.

The Lions went 0-3 in the playoffs during Stafford’s tenure and he couldn’t stand that anymore. So when it came time for a trade, the Rams made the most sense:

• 2020 playoff team
• 2018 Super Bowl team
• McVay didn’t trust Jared Goff
• The Lions didn’t want to start over at QB
• The Rams were in a position to potentially take over the NFC West and the NFC was seen as the weaker conference

Now let’s compare that to what Rodgers manufactured for himself in 2023:

• Jets haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010
• Jets haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 1968
• Robert Saleh had a career record of 11-23
• The Jets already had one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines
• Aside from Garrett Wilson, there was nobody to throw to
• You’re competing with Josh Allen in the AFC East
• You’re competing with Mahomes, Burrow, Lamar, Herbert, and the Steelers in the AFC playoffs

Rodgers had won a lot of playoff games, but he also wasn’t looking for money. He was looking to win. Yet somehow, he still ended up choosing a franchise that hasn’t won in over 50 years. The Jets have only posted one winning season since 2010. And the fact that Rodgers was hurt during his first ever game with the Jets came as no surprise.

Aaron Rodgers may have had a better career than Matthew Stafford.

But boy, somebody needed to shake this man and tell him, “You realize you’re going to THE JETS, right?”

Stafford picked good. Rodgers picked bad.