Giants legend blasts Jets for being all-in on Aaron Rodgers

The New York Jets hope quarterback Aaron Rodgers offered glimpses during their final three practices of the season of what is to come for the franchise during the 2024 campaign, but New York Giants legend and CBS Sports NFL analyst Tiki Barber blasted the Jets for being all-in on Rodgers heading into the offseason. 

"You’re talking about all these young quarterbacks," Barber said during the WFAN "Evan and Tiki" program, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "You have a 40-year-old quarterback with the Jets and Aaron Rodgers, and you think you’re gonna compete with everything that’s transpiring in the NFL? Hell, half of these coaches are younger than Aaron Rodgers." 

As Sanjesh Singh of NBC Sports Bay Area pointed out, the starting quarterbacks for the eight teams set to compete in the divisional round of the ongoing postseason tournament are all under 30 years old. Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions is the oldest of the bunch, and he turned 29 in October.

Meanwhile, Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the regular-season opener this past September and then turned 40 years old on Dec. 2. He nevertheless will enter this coming summer as the Jets' starter assuming he's healthy. 

"Take Tom Brady out [of the equation]," Barber added about signal-callers guiding teams to championships in their 40s. "What other 40-year-old in the modern game has played this well, or an aging quarterback has played this well to win a championship? Everybody is getting younger, and your team got older at the position that matters most, according to most prognosticators about the NFL."

Brady was 43 when he helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl LV in February 2021. 

It's widely believed Jets head coach Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and general manager Joe Douglas are keeping their jobs following a disappointing 7-10 season because they have Rodgers' support. For better or for worse, the plan going back to last spring always was for Rodgers to give the Jets at least two years as their QB1. Even if some within the Jets share Barber's opinion, it's too late for the organization to change course.