The Jets and Packers have finally realized that time is of the essence in regards to an Aaron Rodgers trade.
The New York Jets and Green Bay Packers have been awkwardly avoiding each other for weeks. Finally, it looks like they’re ready to talk about Aaron Rodgers again, just in time to get a panicked deal done before the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Apparently, even though we’ve known that Friday, the day of round two, was an important soft deadline for the Aaron Rodgers trade to happen by for weeks, the teams have pretty much tabled talks on getting a deal done. That has led to rampant speculation about other teams that could enter the talks, and it’s been just an exhausting storyline all around.
Simply, we all know it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. But that when gets pushed back, and back, and back. After a while, the “no update” updates get old.
Ian Rapoport reported that the two sides are back to the table, though no deal is imminent:
After a dormant couple weeks, the #Jets and #Packers recently re-engaged on trade talks surrounding star QB Aaron Rodgers, sources say. A deal is not imminent, but the two sides are at least talking — with hopes a deal can (finally) be done this week.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 23, 2023
Why the Aaron Rodgers trade needs to get done before Saturday
Key in this deal is expected to be at least one of the New York Jets picks owned in the second round. The Packers would like to get that back, and once the selection(s) have been made, making a trade becomes much trickier.
Sure, the Jets could simply trade the players they picked instead after the fact, but the Packers have their own prospects in mind based on what they need and how they’ve assessed the available talent. They don’t want the Jets to do their picking for them if they can help it.
Friday is round two, so we need something before then. The two sides have roughly 125 hours…