Aaron Rodgers has a way with words.
Sometimes he can be deliberate and direct in the way he communicates his feelings. Other times, he can be incredibly cagey and vague about his intentions. And sometimes he can just straight-up lie. So even though the New York Jets quarterback loves to hear himself talk, you often find yourself trying to parse his words for truth.
That’s what occurred to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio on Wednesday as he considered Rodgers’ Tuesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. The Jets signal-caller refuted a recent report by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that his time with the Jets might be coming to an end and that he would prefer to play somewhere else next season.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time in New York,” Rodgers said. “I mean, obviously we haven’t had the success that we’ve all wanted to have. But, you know, I’ve made some good friendships on the team. I’ve enjoyed living in Jersey. I’ve enjoyed time in the city. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the fans. And I came here to win. So I’m not jumping off ship, you know, like, ‘Oh I definitely wanna play and not in New York. Like, I don’t even know if I wanna play yet, but New York would be my first option.”
While it’s obvious that Rodgers is referring to the Jets, Florio wonders if his specific usage of “New York” means something.
“Some in league circles already have connected the dots from Rodgers to Bill Belichick,” wrote Florio. “If they were to partner up, it would need to happen in a place that has the flexibility to sign Rodgers. The Giants would be one of those places. And the Giants are in ‘New York.'”
Florio also notes that since Belichick doesn’t currently work for an NFL team, he can “tamper” with Rodgers all he wants to try to make this happen.
Florio admits it is pure speculation, not to mention that the number of decisions and pieces that would have to fall into place for this specific scenario to happen is sizable. Florio himself even noted that those same league circles had Belichick heading to Jacksonville just a few weeks ago.
But that’s the thing with Rodgers. Especially when discussing his future plans, he’s been vague enough, often enough, that there’s a part of your brain that’s always wondering what he actually meant by what he said (Or didn’t say).
[PFT]
