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As the Aaron Rodgers trade saga drags out into month 27 (don’t fact-check that), New York Jets fans, Green Bay Packers fans, and really all NFL fans are just ready for the whole ordeal to be over. We all know this trade is happening — both sides have too much to lose if it doesn’t — so what’s the holdup?! Well, according to ESPN host Mike Greenberg on the Pat McAfee Show, it’s Rodgers himself telling the Jets to wait and hold out for the best deal.

Mike Greenberg believes Aaron Rodgers is quietly holding up the Aaron Rodgers trade

Aaron Rodgers trade, Aaron Rodgers, Mike Greenberg, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers | Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Packers and Jets have boxed themselves into a corner with the Aaron Rodgers trade. The damage in the Rodgers-Packers relationship is already done, and the team has committed to starting Jordan Love next year.

The Jets are in a little better position. Although they missed out on most available QBs this offseason in pursuit of Rodgers, there is still Lamar Jackson or the signal-callers in the 2023 NFL Draft as options. Still, if they don’t get Rodgers after passing on players like Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo, it would be an embarrassment.

The prevailing wisdom is that draft day is the deadline here, and the teams are still haggling over the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft. However, several NFL insiders, including Mike Florio, have said the Packers have given up hope of getting that first-rounder.

So, now what’s the holdup?

According to longtime ESPN talk show host Mike Greenberg, it’s actually the quarterback in question who is holding up the Aaron Rodgers trade by telling the Jets to wait on pulling the trigger.

“I’ve heard that Aaron has sent signals to the Jets that there’s no reason for them to rush. That he’s not coming until May anyway,” Greenberg told Pat McAfee on his show. “So, they’re not missing out on anything right now. So, they should hold out as long as it takes, and that ultimately, they won’t wind up having to trade the 13th pick in the draft.”

“I think this is all about the Jets wanting to draft an offensive tackle at 13, and Aaron Rodgers wanting them to draft an offensive tackle at 13, which I would want, too, if I were Aaron Rodgers,” said Greenberg, the lifelong Jets fan.  

Greeny believes that if this is the case, the Packers will be the ones to fold on the eve of the draft so that they can get young players to put around Jordan Love this year.

The strategy Greenberg walked McAfee through isn’t groundbreaking stuff. It’s what almost all NFL pundits and fans believe. However, the real revelation here is that Rodgers is the one who may be pulling the strings to get the best deal for his new team.

Rodgers has been Machiavellian throughout his career at times, especially in the last few years, but this takes it to the next level. If the QB is whispering in the Jets’ ear, telling them to screw the Packers over in the Aaron Rodgers trade the best they can, it’s a shrewd move, but one Packers fans won’t soon forgive.

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Tim Crean

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs.

As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early ’90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA.

When he’s not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.