With Aaron Rodgers becoming the latest Green Bay Packers quarterback to make the jump to the New York Jets, Brett Favre thinks he’ll do “great.”
Aaron Rodgers was officially introduced as the new starting quarterback for the New York Jets on Wednesday. After announcing his intent to play for the team on March 15, the Jets and Green Bay Packers agreed to terms on a trade this past Monday that involved the swapping of multiple draft picks. Now, the Jets have shown the world that they are all in on pursuing their second Super Bowl title, and Rodgers is well aware of that goal.
Rodgers is now the latest Packers quarterback to the Jets. The most notable was Brett Favre, who returned from a brief retirement and was dealt to the Jets ahead of the 2008 season.
Favre spoke with ESPN’s Ed Werder about Rodgers making the move to play for New York, and he expressed his belief that the four-time NFL MVP will do “great.”
Brett Favre believes Aaron Rodgers ‘will do great’ with Jets
“Aaron will do great!!!!” Favre said, h/t ESPN. “He will handle the transition as well as anyone. [He’s a] very smart and instinctive person, on and off the field. In other words, you’re not going to catch him by surprise very often.
“And I think [he’s] the best at making everyone around him better. I would rather not bet at all than bet against him.”
After the 2017 season, when the Packers lost to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, Favre announced his retirement. But, months later, Favre revealed that he still wanted to play. The issue was, the team had moved forward with Rodgers to be their starting quarterback. Hence why Favre was ultimately traded to the Jets in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick that became a third-rounder after he played 50 percent of the team’s snaps that year.
In 16 games during the 2008 season, Favre threw for 3,472 yards, 22 touchdowns and a league-high 22 interceptions while completing 65.7 percent of his passes.
15 years later, the Jets made the move to go get Rodgers. All it took was for the Jets to give up their No. 13, 42 and 207 overall picks in 2023 and a conditional second-round pick in 2024 that can become a first-rounder if he plays 65 percent of plays this upcoming season. In exchange, the Jets received Rodgers and the No. 15 and 170 overall picks in 2023.
Last season, Rodgers battled through a thumb injury and worked with a younger wide receiver group. In 17 games, Rodgers threw for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 64.6 percent of his passes.
The Jets and the fanbase are feeling great after the Rodgers trade. As for how well they do in 2023 is another story. But, Favre is confident that Rodgers will have no issues playing this upcoming season for his new team.