Momentum appears to be building toward the New York Jets acquiring star quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers.
But new reports indicate there are several sticking points -- including what exactly the Jets would have to surrender to the Packers in exchange for the four-time NFL MVP.
According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the Packers are seeking a deal on par to the one that sent former Lions star Matthew Stafford from Detroit to the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2021 season.
In that blockbuster swap, the Rams surrender two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder, and quarterback Jared Goff.
"My understanding is that within the Packers organization, they felt that [Rodgers] is worth a package that was similar to the one that the Rams once got for Matthew Stafford, which was multiple ones," Schefter said on "Get Up" on Wednesday morning.
But according to Schefter, the Jets are unlikely to surrender such a package for Rodgers, given his age and the uncertainty about his long-term future.
"Now, if you're the New York Jets, you don't want to have to trade multiple ones for a 39-year-old quarterback who's on a year-to-year basis, and you don't know how long you'll have his services. So, the Jets have to figure out what they're willing to pay."
Instead, Schefter said the Jets would be more comfortable giving up something like the conditional fourth-round draft pick they once traded to the Packers for Brett Favre.
"So, it's up to the two sides to find some common ground," he said.
Further complicating matters in the Rodgers trade saga is that the Jets would likely need to restructure his contract, Schefter added, and they also might need to add more players from the reported "wish list" of players Rodgers would like to have as teammates in New York.
On Tuesday, the Jets reached terms on a contract with former Packers wide receiver and reputed Rodgers pal Allen Lazard, a move that was widely perceived as a prelude to a Rodgers deal.
Exactly where talks between the Packers and Jets stood on Wednesday morning wasn't clear, but on Tuesday night NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport confirmed that the sides are "communicating."
"The parties are having conversations," Rapoport said, "which is really a better place than it had been over the last several days, several weeks, several months. Not there yet, nothing is done. But the parties are communicating. That is what you would call progress. The Packers and Jets are not there on compensation. ..."
Meanwhile, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the Packers could be willing to drag out talks through at least next month's draft, owing to the team-friendly salary cap considerations in Rodgers' contract.
With Rodgers habitually absent from the early phases of the offseason program, it’s not as if he’ll be in the building between now and April 27. And with a $58.3 million option bonus that has a lengthy exercise period (the Packers can pick it up at any point from tomorrow until Week One), Rodgers has a very manageable cap number into September.
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