The New York Jets and quarterback Aaron Rodgers previously agreed to a restructured two-year, $75 million contract that cut $35 million from a previous deal with the Green Bay Packers, who the four-time NFL MVP played for from 2005-2022 before a trade last April.
Rodgers spoke with reporters on Tuesday about his decision to take the pay cut, saying "it was the right thing to do" in order for the team to have more salary cap flexibility and sign more players.
"I mean, it was the right thing to do, I felt like. I'm very well paid, so I have no problem with what I'm getting paid. I took contracts years before free agency for a number of times, knowing that I would be at the top of the market probably and then get passed up multiple times. I never hit free agency. Obviously the Packers stepped up multiple times with top of the market deals that would be passed up at some point over the course of that deal multiple times, so I felt confident about the compensation at the time. We did things a couple times to help the cap out during my time there.
"This, to me, is a win-win-win for everybody. Win for me -- I get paid a ton of money. Win for the team -- we get a low cap number and deferred some cash. Win for other guys that we can bring in and sign. I have no complaints. I'm not missing it at all."
Rodgers is looking to help turn around a Jets team that hasn't made the playoffs in 13 years. Last season's squad started 7-4 before losing its last six games to drop to last in the AFC East.
The Jets now have nearly $16 million in cap space for the 2023 season and a little over $16 million for 2024, per Over the Cap.
Jared Schwartz of the New York Post noted how "the money Rodgers is saving the team" is "likely a catalyst, and necessity, to possibly signing" free agent running back Dalvin Cook.
The four-time Pro Bowler visited the Jets in Florham Park, New Jersey last weekend and left without a deal, but there's optimism regarding how the meeting went, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler:
Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPNAfter spending Sunday with the <a href="">#Jets</a>, Dalvin Cook has headed back to South Florida. By all accounts, his meeting with New York went well. He remains a free agent.
It's clear Rodgers is all-in on helping the Jets move past a bad decade-plus of football in search of the team's first Super Bowl in 54 years. The table is set for success with Rodgers aboard and the primary pieces of the No. 4 scoring defense in football returning.
If Cook get in the mix after Rodgers made room for him, then the Jets offense could really take great strides with the versatile workhorse back aboard.
For now, the Jets are preparing for Thursday's Hall of Fame Game against the Cleveland Browns with an eye toward the season opener against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 11.
