The Packers are Reportedly Demanding a 1st Round Pick 'and More' for Aaron Rodgers

TANNEN MAURY. Shutterstock Images.

I suppose I can be accused of seeing the world through a narrow, focused, AFC East-centric world view. And while there are more sides to me than that - for instance, I'm considered quite a good cook and enjoy curling up with a good history book and a glass of whiskey on occasion - I don't reject the label. I've been looking out at creation from this little corner of the globe for as long as my memory goes back, and it's hard to see things from any other perspective. 

So this past few weeks in my little division have been huge. And the story that has dominated headlines around the football universe, the elaborate mating dance between Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, has positively blocked out the sun. It's got a gravitational pull from which light from New England, Buffalo and Miami cannot escape. And if the marriage does get consummated, it will be the wildest thing to hit the AFCE in memory. 

But there's one possibility that would be even wilder. And that would be Rodgers not making it to New York. After all the heat generated from this saga, to have it fall through now would be the most Jets thing in the history of the Jets. And that's looking like a real possibility:

Source - The Jets want Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers wants the Jets. The Packers don’t want Aaron Rodgers. This should be easy to resolve, right?

It’s not. The Packers want a lot for Rodgers. They want more than they should, frankly. The Jets believe the Packers are being unreasonable.

Per multiple sources, the Packers want a first-round pick and more from the Jets for Rodgers.

The Packers want more than a first-round pick as part of the base deal. They want protection in 2025, in the event Rodgers plays in 2024. And that’s more than the Jets believe they should surrender for a player the Packers no longer want.

If the Jets are willing to offer something like a conditional package that would entail as much as a second-round pick this year and up to a second-round pick next year, the Packers would be nuts to not take it.

Frankly, it feels personal at this point, and that’s no surprise. Rodgers reportedly wanted Packers G.M. Brian Gutekunst to be fired a couple of years ago, something Rodgers never really tried to refute. Now, two years later, Gutekunst has a chance to exact a little revenge — and so he is.

Holy cats. Holy, holy cats. 

As this a more compelling phrase in the English language than "it's personal." The basis of every petty beef ever. The crutch of lazy screenwriters when they need to come up a decent hook for an action movie sequel. And the bane of the existence of anyone trying to cut a business deal. And yet here we are. 

And you know what? Good on Green Bay. You've got to give Brian Gutekunst credit for taking advantage of the Jets' desperation. And make no mistake; they're the desperate party in all this. Not the Packers and certainly not Rodgers. Green Bay is committed to making the transistion to Jordan Love, with or without Rodgers. Rodgers meanwhile, doesn't need any of this gas. He's been publicly debating whether he wants to keep playing football for years now. If he wanted to get into broadcasting or start his own YouTube channel or whatever, he can name his price. Or he can sit in a hobbit hole somewhere going on an ayahuasca-fueled voyage of personal discovery. The only one in this love triangle whom you can honestly say needs this to happen, it's Woody Johnson's little Pit of Despair. 

The Jets are way out on a limb here, with Cocaine Bear underneath and Gutekunst sitting next to the trunk holding a chainsaw. Any time they use the word "unreasonable," he should text back at them with a video of Zach Wilson:

Advertisement

… and tell them the price goes up every time they complain. 

Believe me, my AFC East myopia leads me to want to see Rodgers play my team twice a year. It's been a long time since the Jets had someone under center who wasn't predictably a crushing bore to watch. But at the same time, watching this deal collapse like the Tower of Barad-Dur after they've invested all their time, effort, hopes and dreams into it, would be more entertaining than even that. Either way, we who earn a living hating the Jets will come out winners.