Aaron Rodgers confirms that he wants out of the NFC, onto the Jets

Aaron Rodgers went onto the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday—to nearly 500,000 live viewers—and confirmed that he wants to be traded to the New York Jets. Rodgers says that he decided on Friday, after his darkness retreat and finding out that the Green Bay Packers suddenly didn’t want him anymore, that he wants to play and that he wants to play for the Jets.

The only thing holding the Packers back from trading Rodgers appears to be Green Bay’s unwillingness to deal Rodgers for less than the compensation that they expect for a four-time MVP. Unfortunately for the Packers, they have no leverage.

It seems that the Packers will have to trade Rodgers to the Jets for practically nothing.

Why nothing? Because if Green Bay doesn’t trade Rodgers, they will owe him $60 million. They want to start Jordan Love, they don’t want to start Rodgers, and he holds the cards to force them to pay him $60 million unless they trade him. They also have no market to trade him except for the New York Jets, so they can’t let another team in to bid for Rodgers. He won’t play for any other team, so no other team will trade for Rodgers.

That means that not only is one of the NFC’s strongest teams over the last 30 years going to part with a Hall of Fame quarterback, they’re over a barrel and can’t trade him for more than...whatever they can get. Rodgers’ appearance on the Pat McAfee Show could be the catalyst that gets Rodgers traded to the Jets in a short period of time.

And further confirms that Matthew Stafford might be the best remaining quarterback in the NFC.