Aaron Rodgers’ announcement that his “intention is to play for the New York Jets” in 2023 came a little after 1 p.m., and the only thing unknown about Evan Roberts’ reaction to that news was how long it would take Craig Carton to tee him up.
The answer was all of about 15 seconds, and it was EXACTLY as you’d expect after Craig simply said “go.”
“HAHA YES! YES! The dream is alive, we’ve got a shot, because for the first time in forever, there’s a quarterback on this roster!” Evan said, before the opening music for the show even faded out. “A four-time, four-time, four-time, four-time MVP that will save us from Zach Wilson, save us from Joe Flacco and Mike White, and Sam Darnold and Josh McCown…Aaron Rodgers is coming! LET’S GO!”
Craig then had to mention how there were people in Green Bay “getting their pitchforks out and marching to the home of (Packers president and CEO) Mark Murphy right now” in protest, but Evan is not one of them.
“I love Mark Murphy! I have to thank Mark Murphy, any time you want to go to a Nets game or a Mets game, I have season tickets and you’re more than welcome!”
Indeed, perhaps Craig was on to something: had Murphy and the team brass simply been less condescending in their attitude towards Rodgers’ future, none of this would’ve happened. But here we are, with only the official trade left to consummate, and Rodgers is angry.
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“I love that, because even though he denied having a chip on his shoulder, anyone who heard Aaron Rodgers just heard him tell the world, ‘I’m pissed, and I’m going to make everybody pay,’” Evan said.
Even Craig, always willing to play Devil’s Advocate, had to be happy.
“It’s about long-suffering Jets fans, and we have nothing more than one year with Aaron Rodgers, and a chance to maybe compete for a Super Bowl,” Craig said.
“That’s all you ask for, one year at a time, and next year, the Jets have a shot,” Evan replied. “As far as the compensation goes, it has an inevitable conclusion. The Packers, as bad as they look today…as much as Roberts-it is has controlled my life, I am not worried about this compensation!”
And then, back came Devil’s Advocate Craigy.
“But now, is Mark Murphy going to put a chip on his shoulder and say to Aaron, ‘we’re not going to trade you to the Jets?’” Craig opined. “That’s highly unlikely, but it’s on the table, and the compensation has not been worked out – but I can’t imagine it’s all that difficult – but Mark Murphy now feels like Aaron just put him on blast, and now I control things?”
Great idea, except for a lot of things.
“If they decide to do that, that means Aaron Rodgers is a Packer, and they have a cap hit of $30 million and a PR issue,” Evan replied. “If they trade him, the cap hit is much less, and they get some compensation before a draft that occurs real soon. We’re a little more than a month away, and the packers have to try to build a football team. So if you’re Mark Murphy, are you going to cut off your nose to spite your face, and are you going to say to the community, which basically owns the team, ‘hey, we’re going to do something that hurts our franchise, makes us look like asses, and pisses off a guy we’re going to want to bring back in a few years to put in our Hall of Fame?’ So if I had to guess, I do not think they’ll dig their heels in and make this thing any uglier than it needs to be.”
No Roberts-itis here!
Follow WFAN's afternoon team on Twitter: @CartonRoberts, @EvanRobertsWFAN, @Craigcartonlive, @TommyLugauer, and @CMacWFAN
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