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On Thursday, April 25 — the day the 2024 NFL Draft begins — it will officially be one year since the New York Jets traded for future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
And in that time, the 40-year-old quarterback has made dozens of Pat McAfee Show appearances, done tons of podcast interviews, generated seemingly endless headlines, and promoted countless conspiracy theories.
All while completing exactly zero passes for Gang Green, as he infamously tore his Achilles just four snaps into the 2023 season.
Now, with the Jets beginning to ramp up their offseason workouts, Rodgers is back-in-action and is doing what he was brought to New York to do: throw the ball to Garrett Wilson and lead the Jets to the playoffs.
a little Sunday morning @AaronRodgers12 and @GarrettWilson_V pic.twitter.com/Af4oKRTDw0
— New York Jets (@nyjets) April 21, 2024
Despite Rodgers’ returned to the Jets’ starting lineup and assumed health throughout the season, New York are still the third-favorites to win the AFC East behind the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins.
Winning the division, however, strangely isn’t the ultimate goal for the Jets. While their players and coaches will tell the media that their goal is to win the Super Bowl, the truth is that it’s to simply qualify for the postseason, as the Jets currently own the longest postseason drought in all of the major American professional sports.
The Jets last playoff game was a 24-19 loss to Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 AFC Championship game, which was played on January 23, 2011. Current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan was the head coach, while Fox Sports commentator Mark Sanchez was the quarterback.
The front office has certainly done all it can to give Rodgers what he needs to lead the Jets to the postseason, as they’ve added players such as Mike Williams, Tyron Smith, and Hasson Reddick to their already talent-laden roster that boasts the 2022 offensive and defensive rookies of the year in Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner.