Aaron Rodgers drops update on retirement timeline after Jets' 3-7 record
New York Jets veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers set the record straight on his retirement plans following the 31-6 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The 40-year-old playmaker was inquired by one reporter on Wednesday about how this season could potentially impact the rest of his career.
"Not really. Not for the negative," Rodgers said when asked if the way the season has unfolded changed his retirement plans, before insisting that he'll be back next year. "I think so, yeah."
Rodgers signed a three-year, $112,500,000 contract with the Jets in 2023, per Spotrac, meaning that he could play for another year and see what's next for him. He'll be 42 when he potentially hits free agency again and one would imagine not many teams would be interested in signing a player of that age. The Jets have made multiple changes this season trying to spark things up, but nothing has improved.
Not even Robert Saleh's firing or trading for Davante Adams made a big impact on this team, as they look like a playoff hopeful at best at this point, not a Super Bowl contender.
Their Week 9 win against the Houston Texans made some fans think they were back but after Kyler Murray and Co. dismantled them on Sunday, and this team has more questions to answer. Aaron Rodgers has been honest about the season's development admitting that the Jets have been humbled more than once.
Aaron Rodgers says Jets were forced to eat 'humble' pies after dropping to 3-7
Before addressing potential retirement plans, Aaron Rodgers talked on "the Pat McAfee Show" about the Jets' season and how their plans haven't gone as expected, resulting in them being forced to eat 'flavored humble' pies.
"You do what you know how to do, you get back to work. Preparation stays the same... I've been doing this a long time and the preparation stays the same, focus stay the same. I think you gotta handle it with humillity--It's been a lot of pies to be eating around here this year, flavored humble."
"But you gotta hold onto that beautiful thing in life called 'hope'. There is a chance; we're not mathematically eliminated."
The Jets will have a seemingly easy final stretch of the season (Dolphins, Colts, Jaguars, among others), but if they can't wake up and win games right now, the season will be over in a couple of weeks. Aaron Rodgers remains hopeful in his team, but now it's time to play, not talk.