Jets, Packers ‘far apart’ on Aaron Rodgers trade as negotiation details emerge

The Aaron Rodgers’ trade saga is getting even more complicated.

One day after the 39-year-old quarterback said he intends to play for the Jets in 2023, another report about Green Bay’s compensation request emerged Thursday.

The Packers want more than a first-round pick as part of the base deal, multiple sources told ProFootballTalk — which reported that Green Bay wants protection in 2025, should Rodgers suit up again in 2024.

However, the asking price is reportedly more than the Jets believe they should give up for a player the Packers have said they no longer want.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday morning that the two sides were “not close” on a trade as of Wednesday night.

“All I can tell you is that Green Bay believes its right, the Jets believe they’re right and now we wait to see how the two sides can find a way to somehow meet in the middle and come up with a simple solution,” Schefter said, according to SI.com. “That’s where the two sides are right now, far apart.” 

Rodgers is currently under contract with the Packers, who are willing to wait until the draft to trade the quarterback, a separate league source told the outlet.

The 2023 NFL Draft begins on April 27.

4

The Packers can even drag out the situation until Week 1 of the regular season, which is the deadline for when Rodgers’ $58.3 million option bonus becomes guaranteed base salary, if not exercised.

Rodgers said Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” he’s not responsible for any delays and that it’s the Packers who are “digging their heels in.”

“I haven’t been holding anything up,” Rodgers said. “At this point, it’s been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me, kind of digging their heels in.

“It is interesting at this point to step back and take a look at the whole picture.”

4

Prior to Rodgers’ decision, conflicting reports about Green Bay’s compensation made the rounds.

On Wednesday’s installment of 

Hours later, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Green Bay is not seeking multiple first-round picks “like other QBs (Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford) have commanded in recent years.” 

4

Rodgers met with Jets brass for about four hours last Tuesday at his Southern California home, where he said the group had a “relaxed and easy” conversation.

“Since Friday, I made it clear that my intention was to play and my intention was to play for the New York Jets,” Rodgers told McAfee.

Although the four-time MVP — who has spent his entire 18-year career with Green Bay — said he has “no malice [or] bitterness towards the Packers,” he explained that he didn’t feel as though they wanted him back.

When Rodgers emerged from his four-day darkness retreat in Oregon last month, he recalled that something had shifted with the Packers — and how he heard from fellow players that “there was shopping going on on the Packers end.”

4

Rodgers also acknowledged that the Packers want to move on and that he’s not playing the victim.

Rodgers has $110 million left on the contract extension he signed with Green Bay last spring. 

He is due $59.5 million in guaranteed money this year and another $49.25 million in 2024.