The Jets were eliminated from NFL playoff contention on Sunday for the 14th straight season. It is the longest current streak of any franchise in the four major North American sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. Sunday’s 32-26 overtime road loss to the Miami Dolphins dropped the Jets to 3-10 with only four games remaining.
Although their season officially ends in the first week of 2025 against the Dolphins (the NFL has not yet announced a date and time as the game is part of their flex schedule), the Jets, headed by owner Robert “Woody” Johnson, are already planning for the future. It should begin by benching quarterback Aaron Rodgers now despite the 41-year-old passing for a season high 339 yards versus Miami, his first 300 yard game since December 12, 2021, spanning 34 games. Rodgers has only led the team to three wins since they traded for him from the Green Bay Packers in April 2023. The four-time NFL MVP ruptured his left Achilles tendon early in the first quarter of the Jets opening game of last season and was out until the start of this season. The Jets thought Rodgers would be the missing piece to a Super Bowl team. Instead, he and the squad have been a disappointment.
The Jets fired former head coach Robert Saleh in early October after a 2-3 start, replacing him with interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who was elevated from defensive coordinator. General manager Joe Douglas was terminated three weeks ago. The benching of Rogers should have followed. The Jets have empowered him to influence decisions on coaching hires, including former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, and player acquisition, compelling management to trade for his friend and former Packers teammate Davante Adams, in a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders in mid-October.
The Adams deal hasn’t been fruitful either, as he and Rodgers have connected on only three touchdowns in seven games with just one win. Only two teams, the Raiders and the New York Giants, both 2-11, have fewer wins than the Jets. The priority for the team is hiring a new GM, head coach and securing a franchise quarterback. On Monday, Ulbrich did not indicate he would bench Rodgers.
“I think at the end of the day we got to put the best unit out there that gives us the best opportunity to win,” he said. “I think every player and every coach will appreciate that,” he said. “I think sometimes when you start playing with the roster a lot, especially at the back end of the season, that can be discouraging to some players, so we got to make sure we put the best group out there to win.” If Sunday was the last game of Rodgers’s career as a Jet and in the NFL, it was indicative of his short tenure with the team as even his best game in green and white didn’t produce a win.
