The New York Jets learned their lesson the hard way last season when they bet all their chips on Aaron Rodgers without having any real plan if their new franchise QB got hurt.
Obviously everyone knows how that ended up.
The Jets looked like they’d be a very solid contender before the season began and many believed they could contend for a Super Bowl. But, just four plays into the season, starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a season-ending Achilles injury.
The New York Jets never really recovered from that, and both Wilson and Tim Boyle tried to lead the team the rest of the way. Wilson, who was the former No. 2 overall pick, went 4-7 as a starter. He threw for 2,271 yards and had eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has one year left on his initial four-year deal, but the Jets are widely expected to trade or cut him.
Team owner Woody Johnson didn’t hold back his frustrations with the team’s lack of having a backup plan when he spoke publicly about the offensive woes at the NFL Honors earlier this month.
“The discussions I’ve had in the last couple of months, they’ve seen me about as mad as I can be with what was going on, with the offense particularly,” Johnson reportedly said, via ESPN.
“We have all this talent, and we have to deploy talent properly. So I think they all got the message. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year.”
According to the report, when asked specifically by reporters about the team’s need for a backup, Johnson agreed.
“You need a backup quarterback,” he said. “We didn’t have one last year.”
Wilson, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has faced mounting criticism throughout his NFL career. After another disastrous season, the Jets moved forward last year to acquire four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers in an offseason trade with the Green Bay Packers.
With that, the Jets moved from trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010 to talking about Super Bowl aspirations. But just four plays into Rodgers’ debut, he suffered a season-ending leg injury, and the Jets were back at square one.
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It’s been a frustrating year for the Jets to say the least.
Aaron Rodgers, the prized offseason acquisition that was supposed to turn the team into Super Bowl contenders, ended up playing a handful of snaps before tearing his Achilles.
