The new leadership of the New York Jets, including new head coach Aaron Glenn, have made their stance on Aaron Rodgers abundantly clear, they’ve moved on.
It’s been more than two months since Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey quickly cut ties with Rodgers. There was no need for deep reflection, and they didn’t hold any team or player hostage. They simply decided to move on from the 40-year-old quarterback and they invited him into their office to let him know.
Last week, Rodgers went on The Pat McAfee Show and made his first public comments since being cut. During the segment, Rodgers called the Jets a “debacle” and claimed they lacked an “ample amount of respect” in how they handled the divorce.
Thursday night, the Jets selected offensive lineman Armand Membou with the No. 7 pick in the NFL Draft. While meeting with reporters after the selection, Glenn was asked if he had a response to Rodgers’ criticisms from The Pat McAfee Show, and the first year Jets head coach stonewalled the question.
“Absolutely,” Glenn said after listening to the question with a smirk on his face. “Membou’s a really good player, and I am so excited that he’s a Jet”
Earlier this week, Mougey similarly made it clear the organization has moved on, responding to questions about Rodgers with, “I’m just going to talk about the draft and current Jets players.”
Rodgers felt disrespected by the Jets because he “flew across the country on my own dime” to meet with Glenn and Mougey, only to quickly learn they already decided to go in another direction at quarterback. But Rodgers was really just thrown off by someone else deciding his future for him. And quickly.
There’s still plenty of time for Aaron Glenn and Aaron Rodgers to fall into the trap that so many other Jets head coaches and general managers have. But for now, credit the new leadership for trying their best to avoid the circus that usually follows the Jets.