The Cleveland Browns‘ options to supplant Deshaun Watson appear to grow daily.
First, the New York Giants released Daniel Jones on Friday, November 22, after inking the 27-year-old quarterback to a $160 million extension just over one and a half years before.
Then on Saturday, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want to return to that franchise in 2025. In fact, he may be on the free agent market before the end of this season.
I’m told no decisions have been made yet, but it appears increasingly likely that the four-time MVP, who is banged up, could be placed on injured reserve or possibly benched over the next few weeks, signaling the end of his disastrous time with the Jets. Some around the league say they won’t be surprised if Rodgers is cut in-season.
As for Rodgers, his relationship with the owner has been strained for months — that’s not a secret in the building or the locker room. At this point, after conversations with sources with the team and around the league, my understanding is that Rodgers still wants to play in 2025, just not for the New York Jets.
Aaron Rodgers’ Value Has Declined Over 2 Years With Jets, Making Him More Affordable for Team Like Browns
Owner Woody Johnson wanted the team to bench Rodgers in favor of backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor after Week 4, and the team’s season is now all but over ahead of Thanksgiving Day thanks to a 3-8 record.
Rodgers missed all but one drive the previous year after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the opening game of the campaign, which also rendered 2023 a bust in New York.
As such, the Jets have fallen flat over two seasons with Rodgers, who will turn 41 years old early next month and has one year remaining on his contract. The franchise may hold onto Rodgers and attempt to trade him, though it is unlikely any team is willing to give away a meaningful draft asset to bring Rodgers in when it could just wait for New York to release him and start the bidding there.
Browns, Aaron Rodgers Can Help One Another Turn Page on Recent Embarrassing Chapters in Respective Histories
Despite the reality that the Rodgers experiment failed in New York, the Watson experiment in Cleveland has been worse.
Rodgers has still thrown for more than 2,400 yards, 17 TDs and 7 INTs on 63.4% passing across 11 games for the Jets this season. He has been far better than Watson when the Browns QB has when on the field over the past three years, which has been rarely due to an NFL suspension and consecutive season-ending injuries. Not to mention, Rodgers will be far cheaper than Watson in 2025.
Watson carries salary cap hits of $73 million in each of the next two seasons, and there is nothing the Browns can do to extricate themselves from that deal. However, if they ink Rodgers for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-$10 million for the year, that would afford Cleveland the best alternative to Watson that the franchise has had since trading for him in March 2022.
The Browns are just one season removed from a playoff run with Joe Flacco under center, and Rodgers is at least as good as the Indianapolis Colts‘ backup. And at a minimum, Rodgers’ acquisition would allow Cleveland to officially close the embarrassing chapter on Watson and reinstall a measure of hope within the fan base.
As far as Rodgers is concerned, he’s not likely to command major interest around the league given his age, decline in play and recent injury history. However, he’s also not likely to retire following an embarrassing run of his own with the Jets, and the Browns could offer him both the chance to start and a talented enough roster to make some noise in the regular season.
