Burdge: I'm Still Not Giving Up on Aaron Rodgers to the Patriots
Why I don't think Rodgers to the Patriots is completely out of the question
By Lucy Burdge – Apr 4, 2023, 8:03pm
The Aaron Rodgers saga has been fairly dormant lately but there was one piece of news on Tuesday that made me think there could be movement in this situation soon.'
But not towards the Jets.'
It was reported that Bill Belichick has shopped Mac Jones to multiple teams during the 2023 offseason. This is not entirely surprising, but it is very interesting that the suspected animosity Belichick has toward Jones might be more of a reality than expected.'
When Rodgers was entering his darkness retreat and speculation was swirling that he could be heading to the Jets, I started thinking, what if the unexpected happens and Rodgers actually ends up going to the Patriots?'
And the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense. Belichick and Rodgers have great respect for each other, as Rodgers mentioned last year when he literally said, “A lot of respect for Bill, he's a legend and deserves all the credit that he gets.” Rodgers also spoke glowingly about him on another occasion last year, calling him “a fantastic coach.” Belichick has also called Rodgers “a great quarterback,” and praised him with other compliments.'
The other piece of this was the Boston Herald expose on the dysfunction inside the Patriots organization last season and other reports that Jones was asking around the league outside of the Patriots for help while under a coaching system put together by Belichick. That notably includes Matt Patricia, whom Belichick named the offensive coordinator and Jones very publicly was at odds with during games last season.'
So how does Belichick trust Jones going forward if he did things like that behind his back? It would be tough to. And that's why going with a quarterback Belichick respects, like Rodgers, makes more sense.'
And that's also why the report on Tuesday that Belichick was shopping Jones around the league was not exactly a shock. It makes the nagging thought in my mind that Rodgers could end up with the Patriots even stronger.''
The Patriots' odds to win the Super Bowl are +6600 at BetMGM; their odds to win the AFC East are +750, longest in the division. And those Super Bowl odds are worse than those of the Lions and Jaguars. Belichick is certainly aware these odds are the worst Super Bowl odds the Patriots have had in his tenure and I would think adding Rodgers to the team would improve them.
So I'm not ready to rule out Rodgers to the Patriots just quite yet.