Forget the bright lights of Super Bowl LVII, the New York Jets and their fans might be more intrigued about what happens to Aaron Rodgers over a four-day stretch in a dark room in some undisclosed location.
The future Hall-of-Fame quarterback will be entering his darkness isolation therapy retreat on Monday morning shortly after the Super Bowl — and it sounds exactly like the name suggests. He’s going into a room, shutting the lights off, and staying there for four days, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
During that stay, the 39-year-old will come to a decision about his future with the Green Bay Packers and whether or not he’ll ask for a trade. He currently is under team control for another four years, though there is the potential for an opt-out at the end of the 2023 season.
Per Rapoport, the Packers appear open to the possibility of trading their long-time franchise quarterback, who has won a Super Bowl, four NFL MVPs, and has passed for over 59,000 yards over 17 years.
Enter the Jets.
Once again in the market for a quarterback, Gang Green has been linked to Rodgers — along with the likes of other veteran passers like Derek Carr and Jimmy Garappolo — as soon as it became abundantly clear that 2021 No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson isn’t the long-term answer under center at MetLife Stadium.
Those links only strengthened when the Jets named Rodgers’ former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, Nathaniel Hackett, to the same position in New York. Hackett spent three years with the Packers from 2019-2021 before spending this season as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
“Love Hack. Hack is my guy. Love him and Megan and the kids,” Rodgers told the Pat McAfee show last month. “They’re really special to me. We really bonded when he was in Green Bay. He made it fun. He made the room fun. He made the weeks fun.”
His presence with the Jets will likely be something that crosses Rodgers’ mind when he’s in isolation — though every potential situation under the sun will run through his mind given the amount of time he’ll be shut off from the world.
But if he were to come out of the darkness and alert the Packers that he wants out, expect the rumor mill connecting Rodgers and the Jets to hit a completely different fever pitch.
