Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishAaron Rodgers appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday, looking to set things straight about his playing future, free agency and how his departure from the New York Jets unfolded.Rodgers was critical of the Jets regarding his release, and specifically of new head coach Aaron Glenn. Glenn and first-year general manager Darren Mougey informed Rodgers of his release during an in-person meeting in February.“I figured that when I flew across the country on my dime, there would be a conversation,” Rodgers said. “I meet with the coach, we start talking … he runs out of the room. I’m like, that’s strange. Then he comes back with the GM. So we sit down and I think we’re going to have this long conversation, I’ve flown across the country, and 20 seconds in, I’m talking to the GM, and (Glenn) leans to the edge of his seat and says: ‘You’re sure you want to play football?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’ And he said, ‘We’re going in another direction at quarterback.’ ”Rodgers said Glenn then asked him about the messaging of how he wanted his release to be announced. According to Rodgers, Glenn said, “I don’t want to be in front of the room saying something and have guys looking back at you. And I said, ‘Are you assuming I would be in the back of the room during a team meeting, undermining what you’re saying? You don’t know me.’ And he said, “You don’t know me.’ And then I said, ‘Exactly, that’s why I flew across the country to have a face-to-face meeting with you.’ ”Rodgers added that, based on a later conversation with Mougey and Jets vice chairman Christopher Johnson, “I think that was a little rogue by the head coach.”“I felt there wasn’t an ample amount of respect in that meeting,” Rodgers said. “I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised based on some things I saw over two years.”With Rodgers starting all 17 games in 2025, the Jets finished a disappointing 5-12. Owner Woody Johnson suggested to coaches that Rodgers be benched after a Week 4 loss to the Broncos dropped them to 2-2. One week later, head coach Robert Saleh was fired and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, a close friend of Rodgers’, was demoted. GM Joe Douglas was fired in November.At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Mougey was asked about the team’s decision to part ways with Rodgers.“We just felt like the best thing moving forward for the Jets was to go in a different direction at quarterback,” he said.When asked about Rodgers, Glenn said: “Every decision that me and Mougey make is to win and to win now.”In March, the Jets signed Justin Fields to be their starting quarterback in 2025.Regarding his playing future, Rodgers said he is “open to anything and attached to nothing. Retirement still could be a possibility. Right now, my focus has been and will continue to be on my personal life. That’s what I’ve told the coaches. There’s still conversations that are being had. It has been very honest lines of communication. I really appreciate the time I talked to various teams, but there’s been a lot of narratives that have not been anywhere near accurate.”During a nearly 40-minute conversation with McAfee and his co-hosts, Rodgers spoke on what he termed some of the rumors surrounding his free agency and offseason process.“I’ve been straight up with these teams from the start about where I was at starting with the money thing,” Rodgers said. “I told every single one of the teams I talked to it ain’t about the money. I’ll play for $10 million. I never once said I need a multi-year deal — $30, $40 million — is absolutely bulls—. I said I’ll play for $10 (million). That’s what I told them in March in the very beginning.“The conversation about where I was at in my personal life, the stuff that I am dealing with off the field — in my inner circle — that has to take my attention right now. I wasn’t stringing anybody along. I wasn’t holding anybody hostage. I was honest from the jump about where I was at mentally and some of the constraints that I have in my life that warrant my attention.Last month, Rodgers visited the Steelers and met with coaches — a trip Rodgers discussed on the show. He praised Mike Tomlin saying of Pittsburgh’s long-time head coach, “he’s more than I even thought from afar as far as the type of person that he is. I have a lot of respect for what he has accomplished in the league.”Rodgers indicated as Tomlin did at the NFL annual league meeting held two weeks ago that he has not been given a deadline for a decision and both sides are still talking. On the last weekend in March, Rodgers threw with new Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf. There were photos and a video shown during Thursday’s show. Rodgers said the throwing session was a good test for him as seeing how his body feels and responds is part of his decision-making process.Recently, team owner Art Rooney II said that the team felt good about its meeting with the four-time NFL MVP, and that they “keep getting positive sort of signals about it.”“It was good to meet him,” Rooney said. “We talked about Pittsburgh and all the Pittsburgh coaches he’s had over the years. … We had a good conversation.”The Steelers have brought in quarterback Mason Rudolph on a two-year, $8 million deal, and the only other quarterback on the roster right now is Skylar Thompson. The team lost Russell Wilson (to the New York Giants) and Justin Fields (to the New York Jets) and could potentially draft a QB with the No. 21 pick next Thursday.The Giants and Minnesota Vikings also had been linked to Rodgers at different points of the offseason, and the quarterback said he spoke with their respective coaches, Brian Daboll and Kevin O’Connell. Minnesota is committed to giving 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy the chance to win the starting job, while New York has added veterans Wilson and Jameis Winston ahead of next week’s NFL Draft.Rodgers, who turned 41 in December, threw for 3,897 passing yards and 28 touchdowns last season — a year removed from tearing his Achilles four plays into the 2023 season. The Jets had Super Bowl aspirations after trading for Rodgers in April 2023, but fell way short of that goal. He battled injuries throughout the 2024 season, particularly hamstring and knee issues, and at one point declined to get scans on his injured hamstring to avoid missing games.The season ended on a high note, though, with Rodgers throwing four touchdown passes in his final start for the Jets in a victory over the Miami Dolphins.He threw his 500th career touchdown pass in the second quarter, becoming the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach that milestone (along with Tom Brady, 649; Drew Brees, 571; Peyton Manning, 539; and Brett Favre, 508). Rodgers then threw three more, bringing his career tally to 503. His 62,952 passing yards rank seventh all-time.—The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo contributed to this story. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
Keep Reading
