Latest / AFR Saints / Should New Orleans Saints Pursue Former Super Bowl Champion Aaron Rodgers?
Transcript
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- 0:27Speaker 1: Maybe the most significant news outside of the teams playing
- 0:30Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl is what Jayglazer reported on the
- 0:33Speaker 1: Fox Super Bowl pregame show. If you missed it here,
- 0:36Speaker 1: it was, I.
- 0:37Speaker 2: Do have some breaking news right now. To report the shows,
- 0:40Speaker 2: that's what we do, and it involves another Super Bowl MVP,
- 0:45Speaker 2: that is Aaron Rodgers and guys, I've learned that Aaron
- 0:48Speaker 2: Rodgers flew back to New Jersey this week to meet
- 0:51Speaker 2: with the Jets about his future, met with the team
- 0:53Speaker 2: head coach and at GM only to be told that
- 0:56Speaker 2: they want to move on from him. Now, the thing is,
- 0:59Speaker 2: what does Aaron want player or not? What happens? Did
- 1:01Speaker 2: they trade him to the cut him, whatever, it is,
- 1:03Speaker 2: but the fact that Aaron actually used his own plane
- 1:06Speaker 2: to fly there to find out what the decision probably
- 1:08Speaker 2: means that Aaron still wants to play another year, just
- 1:10Speaker 2: not going to be for the Jets.
- 1:12Speaker 1: Okay, now, I know some of you will probably roll
- 1:17Speaker 1: your eyes, throw your hands in the air and say
- 1:19Speaker 1: this is stupid, But I'm going to have the conversation
- 1:21Speaker 1: about if the Saint should kick the tires on Aaron Rodgers,
- 1:23Speaker 1: and I'll tell you why, because I do believe and
- 1:27Speaker 1: I am consistent with this, almost consistent to a fault.
- 1:30Speaker 1: Any time that a player becomes a free agent, any
- 1:37Speaker 1: general manager worth their salt insert Mickey Loomis joke here
- 1:45Speaker 1: should ask the question, can we get that guy? I mean,
- 1:50Speaker 1: let's not forget that pat Riley got Lebron, d Wade,
- 1:54Speaker 1: and Bosh all on the same team because he was
- 1:57Speaker 1: able to make it work. Like you can't do it.
- 1:59Speaker 1: If you don't at least ask the question, you should
- 2:02Speaker 1: at least explore it. I'm not saying this rival is that.
- 2:04Speaker 1: I'm just saying, on whatever scale of improbability measure it. Okay, Now,
- 2:11Speaker 1: I'm not telling you that they should bring in Aaron
- 2:14Speaker 1: Rodgers But I'm saying is you should ask the question,
- 2:16Speaker 1: You should have the conversation internally about what that would
- 2:20Speaker 1: look like. Now, for whatever it's worth, Rogers is forty
- 2:24Speaker 1: one years old. We know the drill. He spent the
- 2:26Speaker 1: last two years with the Jets. His debut season lasted
- 2:31Speaker 1: all of four plays. He ruptured his achilles, came back
- 2:33Speaker 1: this year, and he just wasn't very good. The Jets were,
- 2:38Speaker 1: you know, a five and twelve football team. Rogers had
- 2:42Speaker 1: a QBR of forty eight point one, eleven interceptions twenty
- 2:48Speaker 1: eight touchdowns. He was twenty fifth of thirty two qualified
- 2:52Speaker 1: NFL passers in QBR. He was not very good, but
- 2:55Speaker 1: the Jets weren't very good, and there were glimpses, there
- 2:58Speaker 1: are flashes of the old airs, But what is the norm?
- 3:03Speaker 1: It's a fair question. I think it's also worth noting
- 3:09Speaker 1: that on ESPN's NFL Countdown, Rex Ryan, remember who interviewed
- 3:16Speaker 1: for the Jets job, had this to say about Aaron Rodgers,
- 3:21Speaker 1: and that throughout that process of interviewing for the Jets job,
- 3:26Speaker 1: and what that conversation about Rogers was.
- 3:28Speaker 3: Like, well, let me just take you inside those walls,
- 3:30Speaker 3: because I did interview for that job, and a lot
- 3:33Speaker 3: of questions came up. Very few of the questions were
- 3:35Speaker 3: about this man's ability as a quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. We
- 3:38Speaker 3: all know we can still spend the football, all right,
- 3:40Speaker 3: But it's the other things. The commitment. Is this man
- 3:43Speaker 3: committed to the organization? Is he going to be at
- 3:46Speaker 3: all the mini camps? He's going to be at all?
- 3:47Speaker 3: It should never be a question. Should never be a question.
- 3:49Speaker 3: And the other things, are we comfortable with him doing
- 3:51Speaker 3: the Pat McAfee show or this show or that show
- 3:54Speaker 3: or what are Basically you're saying this because it's an
- 3:56Speaker 3: organizational decision, not just the head coach, all right, but
- 3:59Speaker 3: do you want Air Rogers to be the face of
- 4:01Speaker 3: your franchise or do you want it to be Aaron Glynn.
- 4:05Speaker 1: It's a really interesting perspective from Rex Ryan, and clearly
- 4:09Speaker 1: the Jets have made that decision that they're moving on.
- 4:13Speaker 1: They're gonna I don't know what their planet quarterback is
- 4:16Speaker 1: going to be, but it's not gonna be Aaron Rodgers.
- 4:18Speaker 1: So when it comes to the Saints and if the
- 4:20Speaker 1: Saints should kick the tires on Aaron Rodgers, here's what
- 4:23Speaker 1: I would add. There's a series of questions that I
- 4:25Speaker 1: would follow and it would go like this. Number one,
- 4:28Speaker 1: if healthy, are the New Orleans Saints a contender? You
- 4:33Speaker 1: got to start there. And before you roll your eyes
- 4:35Speaker 1: and say no, let me remind you. Just so, we
- 4:37Speaker 1: had the exercise. Saints looked pretty good when they were
- 4:41Speaker 1: two and oh and they were healthy, didn't they? Can
- 4:42Speaker 1: we agree on that?
- 4:44Speaker 3: Now?
- 4:44Speaker 1: I get it. You beat Caroline and Dallas, who were
- 4:46Speaker 1: two awful teams, but you started two and oh and
- 4:50Speaker 1: did so emphatically. If healthy, if Eric McCoy's healthy, if
- 4:57Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara is healthy, Taysom Hill, Chris olave Rashid each heat,
- 5:00Speaker 1: if everybody's healthy, are you a contender? I don't think so.
- 5:07Speaker 1: I don't think so, but they may have a different
- 5:10Speaker 1: feeling basically, judging on how the Saints have operated. Number
- 5:13Speaker 1: two is forty one year old Aaron Rodgers a better
- 5:18Speaker 1: option than Derek Carr is today? I think that's also debatable. Now,
- 5:24Speaker 1: Rogers this past year through for thirty eight hundred yards,
- 5:27Speaker 1: twenty eight touchdowns and eleven picks on a bad team,
- 5:32Speaker 1: But those numbers are still better than Derek carrs Now,
- 5:41Speaker 1: I could see a scenario and This is a strange parallel.
- 5:48Speaker 1: But remember what happened with Brett Farv when he left
- 5:50Speaker 1: Green Bay and went to the Jets for one season
- 5:55Speaker 1: and was bad. And Brett Favre's one season with the Jets,
- 5:58Speaker 1: he through twenty two touchdowns in twenty two interceptions. The
- 6:02Speaker 1: football world thought he was cooked, he was done. What
- 6:04Speaker 1: happened a year later? He goes to Minnesota, They go
- 6:08Speaker 1: twelve and four. He throws for thirty three touchdowns, seven interceptions,
- 6:11Speaker 1: and gets the Vikings to the NFC Championship game in
- 6:14Speaker 1: New Orleans against the Saints, where they're losing overtime. Came
- 6:18Speaker 1: back in twenty ten, right, it back once more and
- 6:20Speaker 1: it didn't go so well. But the point is when
- 6:23Speaker 1: everybody thought far was cooked after the year in the
- 6:25Speaker 1: Jets went to Minnesota found life. So could it happen
- 6:30Speaker 1: for Rogers? Maybe next? Okay, if you think, because you
- 6:37Speaker 1: could cut Derek Carr, designate him as a post June
- 6:42Speaker 1: one release, save thirty some million against the cap this year,
- 6:48Speaker 1: then you look and say, okay, well what would it
- 6:50Speaker 1: cost to bring in Aaron Rodgers. The great thing is
- 6:53Speaker 1: this sounds like the Jets are gonna cut him, probably
- 6:56Speaker 1: is a post June one release, They'll eat a forty
- 6:59Speaker 1: nine million dead cap hit. Don't care about the Jets.
- 7:03Speaker 1: But to get Rogers, you wouldn't have to give an asset.
- 7:06Speaker 1: He'd be a free agent. You could sign it. What
- 7:08Speaker 1: would he sign for? Very likely you'd only be interested
- 7:11Speaker 1: in a one year deal. What would that one year
- 7:15Speaker 1: be worth? One year cash, all that sort of stuff.
- 7:18Speaker 1: You could even do what you always do, low cap hit,
- 7:22Speaker 1: high signing bone, to spread it out, whatever you make
- 7:23Speaker 1: it work financially. If you believe you're a contender and
- 7:27Speaker 1: Rogers makes you better than car, you could do it.
- 7:30Speaker 1: And I love that you don't have to give up
- 7:31Speaker 1: draft assets to get him. He'd be a free agent.
- 7:38Speaker 1: Then the other question becomes, would Aaron Rodgers pick you?
- 7:43Speaker 1: What would the market be like for Rogers? So look
- 7:46Speaker 1: around the league and who has a quarterback situation where
- 7:50Speaker 1: they're looking for a starter, and that list isn't very long.
- 7:56Speaker 1: And then you look at that list and you also
- 7:58Speaker 1: look at, okay, what's that list look like among contending teams?
- 8:02Speaker 1: And it's also not very long. Like if you're looking
- 8:05Speaker 1: around the NFL, at teams that could be interested could
- 8:10Speaker 1: be interested in Aaron Rodgers Cleveland and they're not contending
- 8:18Speaker 1: for anything. Pittsburgh, do they bring back Russ, what do
- 8:23Speaker 1: they do with justin fields? You have that conversation with
- 8:25Speaker 1: Pittsburgh could be in the mix. Indy, although you've got
- 8:31Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson, are they committing to Richardson moving forward or
- 8:34Speaker 1: do you want to bring in Rogers? That's a question,
- 8:36Speaker 1: But Indy could be Tennessee needs a quarterback, but they're terrible.
- 8:42Speaker 1: Las Vegas needs a quarterback, they're terrible. The Giants need
- 8:45Speaker 1: a quarterback, they're terrible. And then you've got the Saints.
- 8:51Speaker 1: And I would argue Pittsburgh would be at the top
- 8:55Speaker 1: of that list, but next on that list would be
- 8:58Speaker 1: the Saints. So I don't think it's a far cry
- 9:02Speaker 1: that Rogers could be interested. But for New Orleans it
- 9:07Speaker 1: would have to be a question of what does it
- 9:09Speaker 1: cost and are you a contender? See I am very
- 9:12Speaker 1: much okay with a bridge year like I am convinced
- 9:19Speaker 1: that this team is not a contender and won't contend.
- 9:25Speaker 1: They're gonna have to go backwards to go forwards. But
- 9:28Speaker 1: if they're not gonna do that, and you have a
- 9:31Speaker 1: roster capable listen to me, if you have a roster
- 9:34Speaker 1: capable of getting you to eight or nine wins with
- 9:36Speaker 1: Derek Carr, can we agree on that? Like if if
- 9:39Speaker 1: cars healthy, alive, Shaheed Taysom Hill, everybody's healthy, right, which
- 9:44Speaker 1: you weren't this year, But if everybody's healthy, could you
- 9:47Speaker 1: get to nine and eight? Look, I mean you were
- 9:51Speaker 1: nine and eight two seasons you won nine games. Two
- 9:52Speaker 1: seasons ago under Dennis Allen you won nine games, So yeah,
- 9:57Speaker 1: you could get there. Could Aaron Rodgers get you from
- 10:00Speaker 1: nine to ten or nine to eleven? You win a
- 10:04Speaker 1: bad division, you're in the playoffs, hosting a playoff game, Like,
- 10:08Speaker 1: that's a doable scenario. I think. Now, I don't think
- 10:12Speaker 1: that's the best scenario. Let me be clear. I think
- 10:14Speaker 1: the best scenario is you cut Derek Carr, you eat
- 10:18Speaker 1: it for a year, you get your cap right, you're
- 10:22Speaker 1: picking in the top five next year, which would be
- 10:24Speaker 1: a loaded quarterback draft class, You draft your franchise, you
- 10:28Speaker 1: spend in free agency, and you start to build organically. Again,
- 10:32Speaker 1: that's what that's what I think is best. But I
- 10:35Speaker 1: don't get to make the decision. And if you have
- 10:37Speaker 1: a front office that's still committed to winning. Now, what's
- 10:40Speaker 1: clearly they are You're bringing in Kellen Moore. Likely is
- 10:48Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers a better option at forty one years old
- 10:50Speaker 1: for a year or two than Derek Carr at this
- 10:53Speaker 1: point in his career? And yes, it's all things are
- 10:56Speaker 1: x Ryan talked about. It's the McAfee show, it's the
- 10:59Speaker 1: what's the what's the is it a schwant what's the
- 11:02Speaker 1: thing he does? The dark retreats?
- 11:04Speaker 3: Yeah?
- 11:05Speaker 1: Did the darkness retreat in the case the oscar like
- 11:09Speaker 1: a schwander or something like that. Look it up his retreat? Yeah,
- 11:13Speaker 1: the darkness. I want to know what that word is,
- 11:14Speaker 1: the darkness retreats that he does. Got to deal with
- 11:17Speaker 1: all that. Is he gonna show up? Is he not
- 11:19Speaker 1: going to show up? Minnie camp Ot is whatever? Yeah,
- 11:23Speaker 1: I deal with all that. But is he a better
- 11:25Speaker 1: option than Derek Carr? I think he is even at
- 11:30Speaker 1: forty one, because he's always had a higher ceiling. I
- 11:33Speaker 1: know what Derek Carr is. I know where Derek Carrs
- 11:34Speaker 1: ceiling is. It's not as high as Aaron Rodgers. Now,
- 11:37Speaker 1: can Rogers ever approach that ceiling? Again? I don't know
- 11:39Speaker 1: what I do know about Derek Carr is his ceiling
- 11:41Speaker 1: is lower. So if you want to go for it
- 11:45Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five with Kellen Moore and a healthy roster,
- 11:49Speaker 1: you really want to go for it again, Aaron Rodgers
- 11:52Speaker 1: is a better option than Derek Carr as long as
- 11:54Speaker 1: it's affordable and you have a long term commitment to it.
- 11:58Speaker 1: I would prefer you go in the tank because I'll
- 12:03Speaker 1: eat it. I'll eat I will eat a year in
- 12:05Speaker 1: the tank knowing that it be better long term for it.
- 12:07Speaker 1: I'll take two steps backwards to take ten steps forwards.
- 12:11Speaker 1: I just don't believe the Saints as a franchise are
- 12:13Speaker 1: willing to do that. That's the difference.