Dianna Russini: Aaron Rodgers wanted his time in New York to end

Despite reports that Aaron Rodgers pleaded with the New York Jets to keep him, Dianna Russini knows the quarterback was ready for a change.

The Jets officially announced their intention to move on from Rodgers last week. Thanking the quarterback for all the good times they had together, whatever those were. What followed was a report from the New York Post claiming Rodgers urged the Jets for another chance before accepting their decision “like a man going to the gallows.”

Russini, however, joined The Rich Eisen Show Wednesday afternoon and countered that report, albeit while insisting she wasn’t engaging in any sort of source-off.

💻 @DMRussini

What really went down between @AaronRodgers12 and the @nyjets? And did @TheAthleticNFL insider drop a breadcrumb about a possible home for the future Hall of Famer?#NFL #NFLCombine #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/aJkHl1MDwk

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 19, 2025

“I refuse to do the source-off and dig on who is saying what because I just went through it for two years with the Jets with so much of my reporting because it comes with a lot of heat,” Russini told Eisen. “I’ll just go with what I know, and nobody had shared with me that Rodgers was begging to stay a New York Jet.

“In fact, this entire time, I knew that Aaron Rodgers wanted his time in New York to come to an end as well. He knew this chapter was over a while ago. So unless there was a change of heart and he just really fell in love with the Jersey Shore, I have a hard time believing he’s sitting there going, ‘Woody, let’s fix this…’ I don’t believe any of that.”

Everyone who has paid attention to any of Rodgers’ calculated moves in recent years likely found it hard to believe that the 41-year-old quarterback was pleading to run it back in New York with a new regime after a 5-12 season. A case could certainly be made that Rodgers was the Jets most interesting and talented quarterback candidate for next season. But logistically, a reunion never made sense, even if he tried to beg for it.

With their Super Bowl aspirations long gone, an incoming head coach and general manager were never going to opt for a polarizing quarterback who has no real future with the franchise or in the league. And while most of the NFL came to that conclusion months ago, Rodgers certainly must have realized where his future in New York was trending.

Maybe Rodgers pitched the belief that he still has productive football left but pleading for a third season in New York? Aaron Rodgers? Even if the last two seasons humbled him a bit, everything we know about Rodgers suggests the idea of him begging the Jets for another chance was farfetched.