Aaron Rodgers is once again making headlines as he weighs his future in the NFL. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Thursday, the veteran quarterback opened up about the latest chapter in his career and shed some light on what led to his exit from the New York Jets.
One standout moment from the interview centered on how Rodgers was let go by the Jets. With Aaron Glenn, formerly the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator, stepping in as head coach and Darren Mougey taking over as general manager, the team opted not to include Rodgers in their plans moving forward.
Rodgers said he wasn’t blindsided by the decision itself, but was taken aback by how the team handled it. According to him, he paid his own way to travel across the country to the Jets’ facility, expecting a thoughtful discussion. Instead, he was greeted with a very brief and dismissive meeting that he felt could’ve happened over the phone.
“We sit down and I think, ‘Alright, we’re going to really talk this through,’” Rodgers recalled. “But right away, Glenn just leans forward and asks, ‘So do you want to play football?’ I said yes, and he immediately responded with, ‘We’re going a different direction at quarterback.’ I was stunned—not that they wanted to move on, that’s their right—but that they made me fly all the way out there for a 15-minute conversation that could’ve been a phone call.”
Rodgers went on to question the reasoning behind the Jets’ decision. He said Glenn justified the move by expressing concerns about team dynamics.
“Glenn told me he didn’t want to be in front of the team talking while guys looked back at me,” Rodgers explained. “I asked him what that even meant. Was he assuming I’d be sitting in the back of the room undermining him? I told him he didn’t know me, and he said, ‘You don’t know me.’ That’s exactly why I came—to have this discussion face-to-face, to hear your perspective and share mine.”
Although the meeting was brief, it was clear the two didn’t see eye to eye. Rodgers also expressed disappointment that Glenn didn’t take the opportunity to gather insights from a player with two decades of experience.
“Why not ask me about the team? What’s working, what’s not, who the real leaders are—anything. I have a lot of knowledge to share,” Rodgers said. “But that didn’t happen.”
In the end, Rodgers felt that Glenn acted independently and didn’t represent the tone of the broader organization, noting he had more meaningful conversations with other staff members. Still, the way the meeting was handled left him feeling disrespected.
“I wasn’t mad, just disappointed,” Rodgers concluded. “The meeting lacked basic respect. But after everything I saw in those two years, maybe I shouldn’t have expected more.”
