The conclusion to the Great Aaron Rodgers Trade Saga appears to be inching closer.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” Wednesday and said that while the Jets and Packers still have yet to agree on compensation for the 39-year-old quarterback, Green Bay has backed off from wanting New York’s first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft as part of the package.
“The holdup had been that the Packers were adamant on getting the 13th overall pick in this years draft, and I think they backed away from that,” Florio said.
“The key this week was when Brian Gutekunst, the GM of the Packers, said, ‘we’re not necessarily going to get a first-round pick.’ That to me was a major concession, acknowledging they’re no longer demanding 13 overall in 2023.”
Florio was referencing Gutekunst’s comments at the NFL owners meetings earlier this week, in which he said a first-rounder was not a “necessity” in a Rodgers deal.
The two sides have been deadlocked for weeks as they try to negotiate the trade that the entire NFL is waiting on.
Rodgers made his intention to play for the Jets known during the March 15 episode of McAfee’s show, while the Packers are preparing to move forward with quarterback Jordan Love, whom they drafted in the first round three years ago.
At this point, neither side really has any leverage – and according to Florio, the Jets were not thrilled that Green Bay wanted such a high draft pick for a player they have already publicly moved on from.
“Two words I’ve heard from the Jets in relation to what the Packers demands were: unreasonable and irrational,” Florio said. “I think something happened in Arizona that made them a little more reasonable.”
Florio went on to say he thinks the Jets will end up giving a second-rounder in 2023 to the Packers, and a second-rounder in 2024 that could become a first if Rodgers fills certain criteria in his first season with New York.
Additionally, he believes the Jets would get back an additional pick as protection in the scenario where Rodgers retires after 2023, only playing one season with the Jets.