The Packers previously had little leverage in the Aaron Rodgers situation.
But with the quarterback point blank saying his intention is to be a Jet, Green Bay gained some more leverage. Whether they do anything with that remains to be seen.
The cards are on the table at this point. Rodgers says he wants to go to New York, and the Jets have made clear that they want him. It’s hardly been a secret that the Packers want Rodgers out, but for their part, they were largely mum about the situation publicly throughout recent weeks.
In theory, the Packers could hold out on actually trading Rodgers until they get what they want from the Jets. However, Pro Football Network's Trey Wingo, who initially broke the news of the Rodgers deal getting done, told CBS Sports Radio’s “The Zach Gelb Show” that dragging things out sounds unlikely.
“Everybody is saying the Packers can drag this out as long as they want and all this kind of stuff, and the question is why? Why do they want to do that? They've been ready to move on from Aaron for about a year, maybe even a little more,” Wingo said. “And yeah, they have leverage and all that kind of stuff … but it’s in the best interest of both the Packers and the Jets just to get this done.
"And I think it’s a lot closer than people think it is, because he’s ready to go, they’re ready for him to go, and the Jets obviously could not be more thirsty to have him. …
“I think it’s going to be faster than you think, and the reason why I say that is the same sources that were telling me what was going to happen were saying they were hearing Aaron Rodgers was going to be in New York by next week.”
To Wingo’s point, the Packers likely are ready to just move past the Rodgers situation at that point. That’s not to say they’ll take whatever they can get, but trying to hold Rodgers or the Jets hostage at this point would have little reward for Green Bay.
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