Eric Mangini accuses Aaron Rodgers of intentionally slighting Woody Johnson to get cut

While Aaron Rodgers claims he’s open to playing another season with the New York Jets, Eric Mangini is calling BS.

With the Jets’ season long over after extending their franchise playoff drought to 14 years, the biggest intrigue surrounding the franchise in the coming weeks is whether they’ll retain Rodgers.

Publicly, Rodgers has stated he would like to stay in New York, assuming he doesn’t retire, but the Jets have not addressed his future.

Friday afternoon, Mangini went on FS1 with Colin Cowherd and claimed the Jets should want to keep Rodgers to avoid the salary cap ramifications of cutting him. The former Jets head coach, however, dropped the bomb that he believes Rodgers is trying to get cut.

“Aaron’s doing everything he can to get cut,” Mangini told Cowherd. “The fact that Aaron brought up the, ‘I’ve never been cut by a teenager, I’ve never been released by a teenager,’ that’s a direct shot at the owner. That’s legitimizing everything that’s been said in that organization. That’s making fun of how dysfunctional it is. So, to me, as soon as he said that, in my mind said he wants out, but he doesn’t want to retire, obviously. He wants to get paid.”

Last week, Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini, and Michael Silver penned another less than flattering exposé on the Jets for The Athletic, reporting Woody Johnson’s teenage sons have an increasing influence on organizational decisions. While some sports hosts opted to avoid mocking or discussing teenagers on-air, McAfee turned it into a bit and Rodgers played right along.

In defense of Rodgers, McAfee did ask him about potentially getting cut by the owner’s teenage son, Brick Johnson. While Rodgers certainly could have ignored the question instead of leaning into the bit, he wasn’t the one who brought it up.

Mangini appears to have a good pulse on Johnson after correctly predicting the Jets owner would react rashly to a loss against the Minnesota Vikings in London earlier this season. So if Mangini thinks Rodgers talking about Brick Johnson will irk the Jets owner, then it probably will.

Woody doesn’t exactly seem like the biggest fan of Rodgers, who despite bringing Super Bowl hype to the Jets, has led them to an abysmal 4-11 record. He reportedly proposed benching Rodgers in September, and the quarterback is known to have a better relationship with the owner’s younger brother, Christopher Johnson, vice chairman of the Jets. It certainly seems like Rodgers and the Jets are heading for a divorce.

Regardless of what gets said by both parties publicly, the desire for a breakup might be mutual.

[The Herd]