Has the meeting between Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets actually ended? Flight records seem to imply they could still be in California.
The New York Jets made their way to California to court Aaron Rodgers, who they hope to trade with the Green Bay Packers for, on Tuesday. While Rodgers has yet to formally decide he’ll return to play in the 2023 season, the latest rumors seem to indicate he’s leaning toward a return. His team, though? That’s unclear.
The meetings appear to be ongoing, but there’s some conflicting information about whether or not the Jets have headed back East or if they’re continuing to meet with Rodgers on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, The Athletic’s reporter Matt Schneidman reported that Woody Johnson’s plane departed LAX and headed back East late Tuesday night.
Jets owner Woody Johnson's private plane departed from LAX at 11:26 p.m. PST bound for New York after almost 11 hours in Southern California and a day courting Aaron Rodgers.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) March 8, 2023
Digging into the flight records and the nature of the private flight, I think it’s quite possible the Jets visit has not ended yet, though.
Jets took a rideshare jet service to California
The Jets did not take a Woody Johnson-owned plane to California. They used a fractional ownership company called NetJets that is essentially a membership for people who want to fly private jets without having to have the burden of owning a jet and maintaining it.
So, these jets are passed from customer to customer frequently based on the needs of NetJets and their clients.
With that in mind, let’s look at the locations and timelines of the flights, which don’t add up to suggest that the Jets have gone back to New York just yet.
Here’s a full timeline of the flights, all according to RadarBox.com:
- Jets fly from Morristown, New Jersey to Camarillo Airport. They land at 12:49 p.m. PT
- The same plane flies from Camarillo to LAX, departing at 1:58 p.m. PT
- The plane departs LAX for White Plains, New York at 11:26 p.m. PT and lands in White Plains at 6:38 a.m. ET on Wednesday
Why would the Jets contingent land in Camarillo only to fly to LAX an hour later? Secondly, why would they return to White Plains, New York, instead of Morristown, NJ? Westchester County Airport in White Plains is 66 miles from the Jets front office, Morristown’s airport is just eight miles.
While it’s possible the Jets re-routed to LAX and then to White Plains, it feels inconvenient for everyone involved. It’s possible Schneidman has sources indicating the Packers are on this flight, though, so it can’t be said with certainty that the Jets haven’t headed home looking just at flight logs.
Looking purely at the flight logs and nature of NetJets, though, more likely than the Jets being linked to this flight the entire time is that the customer was routed to a different NetJets customer at LAX who took the plane to White Plains.
No planes have landed in Morristown, NJ from NetJets from California since the Jets contingency left for the West Coast.
It’s quite possible the team and Rodgers are continuing to meet on Wednesday.
UPDATE: ESPN’s Kimberly Martin reported that the Jets brass is expected to leave California at some point Wednesday morning. A trip departing Camarillo has yet to populate on flight schedules. Neither has a trip arriving in Morristown originating in California.