The Aaron Rodgers era in New York is over, and it ends with the future Hall of Fame quarterback leading the Jets to just five wins, another leadership overhaul, and plenty of off-the-field drama along the way.
When Gang Green brought Rodgers aboard two years ago, the hope was that the four-time MVP would be rejuvenated with a new team, develop an electrifying connection with Garrett Wilson, and be the final piece to get the Jets out of their painful playoff drought.
For Rodgers himself, the hope was to win it all, as he famously noted that his new team’s Super Bowl III trophy was “looking lonely” in the trophy case at the team facility.
Instead, it’s all over, as the Jets reportedly informed Rodgers that they will be moving on without him after Rodgers played a full season under center and managed just five wins, while head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were shown the door along the way.
As news broke of the Jets’ decision on Sunday, some quickly declared that the Rodgers move was the worst in the history of New York sports, more disastrous than any blockbuster trade or big-time free agent signing than any pro team in Gotham has ever made.
Is that true? Is the Rodgers move the worst the city has ever seen? Let’s take a look.
First, let’s examine the criteria for an all-time flop. Any massive disappointment is a result of the hype and expectations that were born out of the move that preceded such a letdown. In the case of Rodgers, he certainly checks those boxes. When he arrived in 2023, many believed, unequivocally, that the Jets were just a quarterback away from being a legit contender. The year prior, Gang Green managed to win seven games despite Zach Wilson being a disaster and Mike White needing to fill in. the defense looked like one of the better units in the league, and Wilson was emerging as a young stud. Breece Hall looked like a budding star in the backfield as well, until he suffered a season-ending injury. The pieces were there, and they just needed a quarterback to put the finishing touches on a contending roster.
The Jets responded by bringing in one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and it ended in disaster. The first domino wasn’t Rodgers’ fault, but the sight of him suffering a season-ending Achilles injury just four snaps into his debut was worst-case scenario, and his continued presence on the Pat McAfee Show hung over the team like a dark cloud throughout the rest of that season and into the offseason, when Rodgers was rumored to be mulling over RFK’s offer to join his presidential run. But Rodgers returned, and the Jets somehow got worse from a wins and losses perspective, winning just five games and faring no better even after adding Davante Adams to the fold. So, having been brought aboard to win a Super Bowl and lead the Jets in their laundry list of primetime games, the Jets wound up winning just five total games that Rodgers played in, were flexed out of multiple primetime slots, and wound up needing another rebuild as a result.
So, given the criteria for a monumental flop, the Rodgers acquisition certainly fits. But what is he competing against for the biggest New York sports failure? Let’s take a look at some other candidates:
The Nets big three
This feels like the main contender against Rodgers for the biggest flop in New York sports history. The Nets won the NBA offseason in 2019 when they signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, then added James Harden to the fold to form arguably the most talented trio in basketball history, rivaling the Heat and their group of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. What came of it? One lonely playoff series victory, a lengthy suspension for Irving after sharing a video containing anti-Semitic material on social media (which came after missing nearly an entire season due to not being vaccinated during the COVID pandemic), a trade demand by Harden, and eventually, the entire experiment being blown up. It was a colossal failure in every sense of the word, and may be a bigger failure than Rodgers was with the Jets.
The Worst Team Money Can Buy, plus the sequel
The Mets made history by spending $45 million on payroll before the 1992 season, as the likes of Bobby Bonilla, Brett Saberhagen, and future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray were brought in to get the Mets back to their contending ways that they enjoyed in the 1980s. Instead, the team went 72-90 and lost 103 games the following season. fast forward two decades, and the 2023 Mets set another new record for payroll but wound up being sellers at the trade deadline, parting with the likes of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander after being expected to compete for a pennant. These were certainly memorable failures given the money invested in the team, but don’t feel quite up to what the Nets and Jets failed with.
Jacoby Ellsbury’s Yankees
The Yankees aren’t short on failed free agent contracts for players past their prime, but they typically managed to overcome them to some extent, as the team was still playoff fixtures when signing pitchers like Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, and Kei Igawa. But after missing the playoffs in 2013, the Yanks went on a major spending spree, adding Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Ellsbury, the consolation prize to not retaining Robinson Cano. The former All-Star and MVP candidate had just led the league in steals, earning him a seven-year, $153 million contract, but injuries made this a mess of a signing, and the Yanks missed the playoffs again in 2014. Ellsbury’s tenure with the Yanks included more injuries, fights over his pay, and a whole lot of disappointment.
Phil Jackson, false Knicks prophet
Many hoped the years of torture for the Knicks were finally over when Jackson was brought in as the team president. Here was a proven winner, a former Knick, and a praised basketball mind that led James Dolan to say he was “willingly” stepping back and letting Jackson take over. Well, that turned out to be a disaster, as Jackson refused to adapt to the modern NBA, publicly criticized the team’s star in Carmelo Anthony (after giving him a no-trade clause), and made disastrous moves like signing Joakim Noah, replacing Mike Woodson with Derek Fisher as head coach, and making several head-scratching trades that sent Tyson Chandler, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert out of town for underwhelming returns. He was dismissed in 2017, with New York setting a franchise record for consecutive losses along the way.