Jets Owner Woody Johnson Suggested Benching Aaron Rodgers For Tyrod Taylor After Loss To Denver

According to Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Jets owner Woody Johnson suggested to the coaching staff following the team’s loss to the Broncos back on Sept. 29 that they bench QB Aaron Rodgers in favor of Tyrod Taylor. 

“The day after the Jets’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Sept. 29, there was a contentious meeting at the team facility. It included Johnson, Douglas, vice chairman Christopher Johnson, team president Hymie Elhai, and Ira Akselrad, an adviser to Johnson. It also included a group of coaches: then-head coach Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, then-defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and special teams coordinator Brant Boyer among them,” according to the Athletic. 

“The coaches had been called in to explain what happened with their units during the 10-9 home loss to the Broncos. During the meeting, Johnson suggested to the coaches that they bench Aaron Rodgers in favor of Tyrod Taylor because he felt Rodgers’ performance was holding the team back. The coaches and Douglas, stunned at the suggestion, talked him out of it and convinced Johnson to stay the course and that benching Rodgers, with his pedigree, four games into the season would not sit well with the locker room. The coaches also felt it would embarrass Rodgers. The idea of benching the future Hall of Famer sounded so absurd that one coach asked whether the owner was serious — multiple sources from that meeting believed he was.”

Johnson would fire HC Robert Saleh a week later before waiting another month to part ways with GM Joe Douglas.

The Jets have announced that they’ve begun their search for the team’s next GM and the writing had been on the wall for Douglas.

The Athletic reports that Douglas lost some of his power during the 2023 season with Johnson taking a more active role with the team.

As for Rodgers, there has been a lot of talk and speculation about his future, but the Athletic says it’s “increasingly unlikely” he will want to return next year. Beyond that, the belief is Johnson won’t want Rodgers back for another season.

Rodgers hasn’t played the best ball of his career, is on the other side of 40 and has no remaining guarantees on the $35 million he’s owed in 2025. 

Rodgers, 40, is a former first-round pick of the Packers back in 2005. He agreed to a four-year, $134 million extension that includes over $100 million guaranteed in 2018. 

Rodgers was owed a base salary of $25 million in the final year of his deal in 2022 when he agreed to a three-year, $150 million extension this offseason with $101 million of the deal guaranteed.

After one year, the Packers traded him to the Jets for a package that included a second-round pick in 2023 and a conditional 2024 second that could become a first. 

He played just four snaps in 2023 before tearing his Achilles in Week 1. 

In 2024, Rodgers has appeared in 10 games for the Jets and completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,258 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go along with 94 yards rushing and a touchdown.

We’ll have more on Rodgers and the Jets as the news is available.