Mike Florio and Chris Simms lay out expectations for the Jets’ offense next season with Aaron Rodgers at the helm and discuss why the NFL has an opportunity with this year's schedule.

Video Transcript

MIKE FLORIO: On that point, here he is from yesterday with Pat McAfee, talking about his knowledge of the offense with Nathaniel Hackett, former Packers offensive coordinator, one year Broncos head coach, will be employing in New York, and also Offensive Rookie of the Year from 2022 Garrett Wilson, one of the top weapons available to Aaron Rodgers. Here he is.

AARON RODGERS: And it's just going to be my cadence that I've used my entire career. So it'll be fun to-- I was doing it today in some of the QB-center exchanges, testing those guys with different inflections and long counts and short counts and all that stuff. So it's fun to be here and be a part of it.

Obviously, Garrett, he's a talented guy, man. It's-- threw him a pass today, and just kind of turned and was like, wow, that was-- just his ability to kind of get in and out of his breaks. There's another 17 I played with for a long time who does it better than anybody. And-- but the explosiveness in and out of the breaks, the 17 here is pretty similar.

MIKE FLORIO: And that other 17 obviously Davante Adams, the guy that Aaron Rodgers didn't have access to last year. He'd been traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. Look at the numbers there, last year to this year.

And it's amazing when you think that we have this perception that Davante Adams had kind of a down year. He really didn't.

CHRIS SIMMS: No.

MIKE FLORIO: He had a pretty good year--

CHRIS SIMMS: No, I think--

MIKE FLORIO: --in Las Vegas.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: He had a better year than Garrett Wilson, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

CHRIS SIMMS: I think you're right. You know, yeah, there is that perception. I think the perception's there because I think anybody who really studied the Raiders and watched the film, you went, wait, he should have had, like, an extra 100 yards in that Steelers game at the end of the year, another 100 yards in the Rams game, you know, when they blew it to Baker Mayfield and everybody.

There was some games there where yeah, Derek Carr didn't play his best. And they left some plays and opportunities on the field, you know? And I think that's ultimately what led to Derek Carr not being there a little bit, or at least part of the conversation.

But yeah, you're right, people do view it as a down year. But I think it's because of what was there to be had. There was a little meat left on the bone in that department.

MIKE FLORIO: He did have some down games as well, as Pete points out, multiple games under 50 yards, one game with only 3 yards, and still had incredible production for the full scope of his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders. And it's going to be a challenge to duplicate that this year because quarterback Derek Carr out, Jimmy Garoppolo in.

So look, it's going to make the year fun. It's going to make it exciting. I still don't know how I would feel deep down if I was a Jets fan once I start looking at the schedule.

And it all becomes tangible next week when we see week one, week two, week three, where is the bye week, how many prime time games, how much does our routine-- and they're very used to the routine of 1 o'clock Eastern on Sunday because that's where the teams no one cares about typically play most of their games. Now that they're a team that everyone cares about, they're going to get yanked all over the place-- Monday night, Sunday night, Thursday night.

Remember the new rule this year-- you can be scheduled Sunday to Thursday twice. How about Jets-Cowboys for the Thanksgiving game?

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: Would that be nuts? Would that be playoff-level audience if they go Jets at Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon? Holy crap.

But look at those games. And I suspect that the tug of war is going on currently between all the networks to get as many as they could. Because remember, Chris, this is the first year that they've torn down that wall of the-- CBS being the unofficial AFC network, and Fox being the unofficial NFC network.

They assign the games to whoever, whenever, however. And I bet you Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN slash ABC, and Amazon are trying to get as many Jets games as they can each.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, I don't disagree. I mean, there's some heavy hitters on that list, on that schedule right there, you know? And the other thing you look at, you go, they got nine home games, and they got the Giants on the road, which essentially goes 10 home games this year for the New York Jets. Good advantage for them there.

But yeah, I would think they're being tossed around in every marquee spot possible. And the tug of war between NBCs, ESPN, Fox, and CBS is all going on to get a little taste of the Jets and Rodgers at the most premium spot possible.

MIKE FLORIO: And you know, It's funny, I understand, and we've been around it enough, and I think they get nervous when we talk about it, but just the idea that there is this-- this effort to try to-- look, at the end of the day, the NFL's going to do what's right for the NFL.

The NFL's going to put these games in the biggest possible spots. And obviously, "NBC Sunday Night Football" was one of the biggest possible spots you can be in. So there will be Jets games on Sunday night, even though the Jets haven't been on NBC since Butt Fumble Thanksgiving 2012.

They'll be on Monday night. They'll be on Thursday night. They'll maybe be on Saturday. And most of their Sunday games are probably going to be 4:25 PM kickoff. Why waste them at 1 o'clock when you can tuck them into that prime real estate on CBS or Fox, which generates tremendous numbers as well?

So beyond the three weekly night windows, you've got those late afternoon windows that do well too, that lead into the night game. So there's going to be a lot for everyone. I think there's going to be enough to go around.

But at the end of the day, the NFL's the one that benefits because the NFL likes to be able to trumpet the millions that are watching the games. You got New York market. You've got Aaron Rodgers. You've got a team that has a chance to be good.

The NFL has a great opportunity here to strategically drop the games in spots where there will be tremendous audiences. And every broadcast partner is going to benefit from it.

And at the end of the day, will someone benefit from it a little bit more than someone else? Maybe. But this is the old rising tide lifts all boats dynamic for the networks that broadcast NFL games.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, no, it's-- it's a good problem to have. It's New York, it's the Jets, it's Aaron Rodgers. We know the power of the New York market on TV, everything there, right?

And then you add in that, yeah, it's New England and Boston twice a year. And they got to play Philadelphia, which has got another great market, right? And then you got, of course, some stars where OK, maybe that market's not the best, but damn, I want to see Mahomes versus Rodgers and the New York Jets, or Josh Allen versus Aaron Rodgers in an AFC East showdown.

So there's a lot of great possibilities. I'm really excited for it, I am. And the AFC, just-- the more you talk about it, the more you start talking about these matchups, it's just-- it's unreal where we are right now with the quarterbacks and the teams we got.

MIKE FLORIO: We're going to have a draft later in the program of the 2023 quarterback duels we are most looking forward to seeing, sparked by this notion. Well, I think it was sparked by something that--

CHRIS SIMMS: It was sparked by LeBron beating Steph last night. They're going at it again, right? They're rivals. The Lakers beat Golden State in Golden State to win the first game of the series, you know? And they've had a great rivalry.

And Steph's got what, four championships, right? LeBron's got four championships. So they're kind of dueling it out for whatever-- people are trying to make it the king of this era or whatever you want to call it.

MIKE FLORIO: Given that the Penguins are not in the NHL playoffs for the first time in a long time, and I don't have another sport to pivot to post-draft, when I have some time to actually enjoy sporting events other than focusing on football, maybe I need to rediscover the NBA. It's been a while.

But I don't have a team. I never really had a favorite team--

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: --in the NBA. It was more you become drawn to certain players, not teams. And I think that's how it is for a lot of fans these days. I'm sure there are plenty, many--

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: --most that have a team they're loyal to. But I think a lot of the fans just go with wherever LeBron James ends up--

CHRIS SIMMS: Well, basketball definitely has more of that, you're right, you're right. I mean, yeah, it definitely does. I would agree with that there. It's a little more player-driven in basketball, for sure.

But the Knicks being back in the playoffs and being relevant made it exciting. And it's a fun atmosphere. You know, the Sixers-Celtics, Mike, you can get behind that. It's a good-- going to be a good series. I'll throw that out there for you.

And you know, well, the other thing too with basketball is, you can enjoy rooting against-- like, I'm rooting so much against the Suns, and don't want to see Durant and them win a final. Like, I've adopted that as my team because-- to root against. I just want to go, nah, I don't-- I want to see anybody but that team win the championship. So that's where I also get a little emotionally invested in, actually rooting against some teams and players in the NBA.

MIKE FLORIO: The first team that I ever really liked in the NBA was the Celtics because John Havlicek was from the area where I grew up. So I was aware of him. And he's on the Celtics, so you root for him to do well because he grew up, like, five minutes from where I did. So that was the connection.

And then comes Michael Jordan. And that changes everything. I mean, weren't we all Bulls fans, even the fans of the other teams? Even Pistons fans were at some level Bulls fans-- probably not.

But still, Michael Jordan changed it all. And yeah, now-- you know what? Let's go back to where we started this segment, Aaron Rodgers and Spike Lee.

Spike Lee, my new friend, he's a Knicks fan. He's been waiting a long time. Pete told me the Knicks will disappoint me as much as the Vikings do. That's incorrect. The Knicks aren't good enough to disappoint anyone.

CHRIS SIMMS: [LAUGHS] That's true.

MIKE FLORIO: The Knicks don't have tragic playoff losses like the Vikings can line up one after the other. That's the-- that's the one good thing about having a team that never makes it to the playoffs-- you can't have your heart ripped out and shown to you Mameshiba style when you flame out in the postseason.