Baydream: Aaron Rodgers can't help but wonder what it'd be like to play with anyone but the Jets

The New York Jets are making their final preparations before Monday night's season opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.

For Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the primetime game could be his last opportunity to play in the Bay Area. The future Hall of Fame quarterback grew up less than 200 miles away from San Francisco. He played college football for the California Golden Bears with dreams of one day playing for the Niners.

The stars seemed to align for Rodgers when he declared for the 2005 NFL Draft. The Cal quarterback was one of the top prospects in the draft class and the 49ers were searching for a quarterback to select with the No. 1 overall pick. But it wasn't meant to be. The 49ers — who coincidentally also broke Tom Brady's heart in the 2000 NFL Draft — decided to draft Utah quarterback Alex Smith instead.

Aaron Rodgers would've preferred playing for the Jets' Week 1 opponent

During an interview with Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, Rodgers reflected on his pre-draft workout with the 49ers.

“I [completed] 90 of 91 [passes],” Rodgers recalled. “We scripted it; [Cal coach] Jeff [Tedford] put the whole thing together. It was a great workout, and then we went to lunch. I thought it was a good lunch. And I’m still kinda like riding high, like, ‘There ain’t no way that other workout’s gonna be like this.’ The rest is history."

Rodgers plummeted to the No. 24 overall pick, where the Green Bay Packers selected him to sit behind Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre for three years. Rodgers forced his way out of Green Bay during the 2023 offseason. Near the end of his time with the Packers, Rodgers thought there was a possibility he could be traded to San Francisco.

"I thought there was a slim, slim possibility," Rodgers said. "I just didn’t really ever think the Packers would trade me within the conference. There seemed to be some kismet [as] in ’05, with me being from Northern California, and San Fran. And as much as it seemed like not the front end of my career, but now the twilight of my career, going back home to my childhood team would have been some fated circumstance, it never really felt like it was gonna be a reality."

Instead, Rodgers somehow ended up with the New York Jets, who hold the league's active postseason drought with 13 years. The four-time NFL MVP may already be regretting the decision to come to the Meadowlands.

In his first season with the Jets, Rodgers managed to play just four snaps before suffering a torn Achilles tendon. He's hoping for different results this time around — the 2024 season could be his last opportunity to capture the second Lombardi Trophy that has eluded him for so long.

At age 40, Rodgers is now the league's oldest active quarterback. At this stage, it's unlikely that he will get any opportunity to play for any other team besides the Jets. When he retires, it will either be with just one Super Bowl win or with the Jets hoisting a Lombardi Trophy for the first time since the 1968 season.