Sure looks like Aaron Rodgers cost the Jets a chance at Ben Johnson

The New York Jets are in the market for a new head coach after firing Robert Saleh midseason.

It's impossible to overstate how disappointing the 2024 campaign was in East Rutherford. Jets fans are used to despair, but nothing stings more than failure in the face of genuine hope. For the first time in ages, Jets fans had a real reason to feel good about their chances.

That reason, of course, was Aaron Rodgers, the four-time MVP taking over the offense in Zach Wilson's stead. After a years-long carousel of mediocrity at football's most important position, the Jets were finally handing the reins to a proven commodity — one of the all-time greats at quarterback.

Rodgers has more than 60,000 passing yards and 500 touchdowns in his professional career. He has a Super Bowl on his resume, plus an ungodly slate of awards to his name. There was a real belief that he could turn this ship around and restore the Jets to their former glory as a marquee NFL franchise.

That belief was, of course, extremely misguided. Rodgers, 40 when the season started, was coming off of a ruptured Achilles and a lengthy recovery process. He spent his time away from football entertaining the concept of a vice presidential campaign and drumming up controversies with some of the dumbest conspiracy-brained nonsense of the last year.

Now, fast forward to the onset of 2025, and the Jets are 5-12. Rodgers failed on every level, as did the Jets. This roster is in complete shambles and it's unclear if Rodgers will even play football next season, much less in a Jets uniform.

And now, on his way out the door, Rodgers is handing Jets fans one final disappointment.

Aaron Rodgers cost the Jets a chance at top coaching candidate Ben Johnson

The Jets are not expected to place a formal request to interview Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson for their vacant head coaching job, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Johnson, who spurned job offers last winter to stick with Detroit, has "made it very clear" he won't accept all interviews.

Johnson is in a great situation and he won't leave it for just any head coach opening. The reason the Jets aren't high on his list? The quarterback situation.

This is a tough break for the Jets fandom — and the organization. There isn't a blameless soul in that building, from Woody Johnson down through the front office, but the Jets couldn't have predicted the extent of Rodgers' decline. He missed all but four snaps of his first Jets season due to a serious knee injury, then never looked quite right upon his return. We'll never know how this would've worked out if Rodgers was healthier (and perhaps a bit less sidetracked off the field).

That said, Ben Johnson is wise to avoid the Jets organization like a plague. That is a toxic environment for all involved. Woody Johnson fired his coach midseason after trying in vain to bench his franchise quarterback, lest we forget.

The former is perhaps the brightest offensive coodinator in football and a prime candidate for a long and fruitful head coaching career. He needs the right personnel and front office support, though. So much of a head coach's success in the NFL boils down to circumstance. Landing with the wrong owner or the wrong GM can derail a coaching career before it even really begins.

Of course, New York fans would love to install Ben Johnson's offense and put a new, more spry QB under center. Sam Darnold? Shedeur Sanders? The possibilities are plentiful. In the end, however, it seems like the Jets are destined to settle for a far less appealing option, based on the reported candidates list.