The New York Jets spent the 2023 season catering to Aaron Rodgers’s wishes following his trade from the Green Bay Packers. The team is expected to try the same tactics this offseason, and one NFL insider thinks two players are in play who would help Rodgers run his offense.
Aaron Rodgers was catered to last season
After Rodgers suffered an injury on the first drive of the Jets’ season, the team could not be competitive because they didn’t have a quarterback to run the future Hall of Famer’s system correctly.
Part of the reason Zach Wilson and the other quarterbacks were so inept last season was because the Jets brought in several former Packers teammates, Rodgers, such as wide receivers Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, so he had familiar players to work with for the 2023 season. They added former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett for the same job in New York.
The way the Jets catered to Rodgers reportedly rubbed some in the team’s facility the wrong way last year. But with Rodgers returning from a torn Achilles for the 2024 season, the Jets are expected to make their building revolve around him again.
The New York Jets could add David Bakhtiari or Tyler Boyd
In his mailbag for Sports Illustrated, Albert Breer wrote he thinks the Jets will be in play for Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd:
The first potential target I’d keep an eye on would be Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari, if he’s released in the coming days. It’d be tough for the Jets to rely on Bakhtiari without doing more at the position, based on his injury history, but adding the tackle to the mix would be a good place to start. And then I could certainly see one of the veteran backs we mentioned earlier, or someone like the Cincinnati Bengals’ Tyler Boyd, being added to the mix as well.
Here’s the thing: the Jets have to be all-in for the here and now, and so I think they’re going to jump through hoops to make things right around Rodgers for his return from the blown Achilles. That means attacking the tackle problem both in free agency and the draft, along with supplementing at the skill positions around young stars Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. Having Rodgers will certainly help New York recruit in those areas.
Are those the best moves for the Jets?
Adding Bakhtiari would be a significant risk for the Jets, even though he’s arguably the best player on the field when healthy. While Bakhtiari is Rodgers’s buddy, the aging left tackle has been a consistent starter for the Packers since he tore his ACL in December of the 2020 season. Several surgeries later, Bakhtiari finished the 2023 season on injured reserve.
Boyd could be an excellent Jets pickup. Rodgers needs an upgrade at wide receiver after the team added so many relatively useless former Packers to the roster last season. But would adding Boyd come at the cost of other more urgent roster needs, like the offensive line?
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