(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Green Bay Packers have made the move the sports world has been expecting for months: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is headed to the New York Jets in a trade.
The teams will swap first-round picks this year as part of the deal, moving Green Bay from 15 to 13, published reports said Monday.
The Packers will also receive one second-round pick and another second-rounder that becomes a first-round pick if Rodgers -- a four-time NFL MVP -- is on the field for 65% of plays.
A sixth round pick was also included.
Rodgers’ departure marks a sea of change for the Packers after they’ve had about three decades of Hall of Fame-level quarterback production in Brett Favre and Rodgers. Next in line is Jordan Love, a 2020 first-round pick who has made only one career start.
Rodgers acknowledged the move caught him by surprise. He skipped the Packers’ 2021 mandatory minicamp in a standoff with team management before reporting to camp and producing a second straight MVP season. (He also won the award for 2011 and 2014.) But the sides had patched things up afterward.
When he was asked last June at the Packers’ mandatory minicamp whether he expected to finish his career in Green Bay, Rodgers replied: “Yes. Definitely.”
Then came a 2022 season that didn’t go according to plan.
Rodgers now will be tasked with leading a franchise that hasn’t been in the Super Bowl since Joe Namath led the franchise to a victory in its only appearance in January 1969.
And quarterback issues have often been among the key culprits in the struggles since. That has especially been the case during the Jets’ current playoff drought.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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