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After a months-long game of chicken with the Green Bay Packers, future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers finally got what he wanted when the Pack agreed to ship him to the AFC East.
And while Rodgers ultimately landed in his preferred destination of New York with the Jets, new reports indicate that the Packers tried to ship him to New England to play for the Patriots, first.
Speaking on his show earlier this week, radio host Craig Carton claimed that the Patriots attempted to trade for Rodgers but the four-time MVP refused to play in New England.
“The New England Patriots made an offer to the Green Bay Packers to get Aaron Rodgers,” Carton said on the Wednesday episode of his show. “And when Aaron Rodgers heard it, his agent said no, we ain’t playing for New England, we want to be a Jet.”
While trying to dig into the mind of Rodgers is virtually impossible these days, you could see why Rodgers would choose New York over New England, with the primary reason likely being how much control he has.
In New York, he’s literally the best quarterback the franchise has ever employed and will be treated as such barring disaster. In New England, not only will he never be able to live up to Tom Brady but he’d also be under the shadow, and subsequent rule, of Darth Belichick, which is likely a less-than-ideal scenario for someone who marches to the beat of their own drum as proudly and as loudly as Rodgers.
As for on-the-field reasons, while it’s certainly difficult to make a case for the Jets over the Patriots in a macro sense, in a micro sense, it could be argued that the Jets have superior weapons on offense and a more potent defensive unit.