Mike Florio and Chris Simms analyze Aaron Rodgers’ remarks about making “a commitment” with the Jets and his expectation to be with the team for the duration of the offseason.

Video Transcript

MIKE FLORIO: Now, he never made an open-ended, unconditional, unequivocal I'll be here for every single day of the offseason program. He didn't do that. And he had that funny line, does tomorrow count? Well, there isn't practice tomorrow or, as the case may be, today. They're not having OTAs yet. It's still phase one. It's not practice.

I don't even think they can talk to the coaches in the formal setting yet.

CHRIS SIMMS: Right. Right.

MIKE FLORIO: But the vibe was far different than it's been, and it very well could be that he allowed his animosity with the Green Bay front office to affect his involvement with the team--

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: --to get him to stay away as a middle finger to them, and it's the old cut off your nose to spite your face. It makes him not in position-- his teammates not in position to be as good as they can be. But he's so pissed off at Brian Gutekunst and company, he's willing to not be there just to piss them off, or he just doesn't want to be around those doesn't, want to be there, doesn't want to be in that building. They're not being good to me. They're not treating me right. I don't want to be there until I have to be. It's the only way I can express my displeasure without getting myself in any trouble. And even two years ago, he wasn't there when he was supposed to be at the mandatory minicamp.

So different vibe. We'll see if he's there every day. I assume that New York media corps he's so excited to work with will keep us updated on the days he is--

CHRIS SIMMS: They definitely will.

MIKE FLORIO: --and isn't there. But it seems like the spirit is willing. He wants to be there. He wants to-- look, he's got to get ensconced in New York. He's got to find a place to live. It's a new reality for him. He said he grew up in a small town in northern California. He has been in a small town for 18 years in Green Bay. This is culture shock. For a guy who seems very smart and evolved and sophisticated, this is a pretty big change for him. He's not in Kansas anymore.

CHRIS SIMMS: No.

MIKE FLORIO: So that's part of the transition he's going through as well.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, right. I mean, we talked about he was, you know, king of the castle. It was comfy up there. That's why we questioned whether he would go to Denver last year, right, during that whole period. It was just, would he really do that and kind of upset the apple cart that way, right?

But yeah, here, you know, forced-- I agree with you and some of that offseason stuff you talked about. You know, I do think that was probably a little bit of a middle finger to the Packers and the situation they had put him in, right? But yeah, it worked against him certainly last year when you have new pieces on the team, young pieces, and you're not there to do that.

The years before that, yeah, OK, the team had some veteran pieces that he knew and trusted and everybody was on the same page. But yeah, it can't afford that.

Now, does he need to be there at every workout and all that? No. I'm not worried about him being there, you know, there for every workout. But the OTAs and a majority of the workouts? Yes because, as you said, you know, we're in phase one. But as you get into phase two too, yeah, you can start to do little things on the field and have little meetings, and you start to lay down the groundwork for training camp, which, you know, of course lays down the groundwork for the regular season. That's where.

And also too with Rodgers, like we were talking about a minute ago, I would think, you know, to your point, yes, it's a new place. Let's get indoctrinated and feel comfortable living here and everything like that, but let's be real. His legacy has taken a little bit of a hit on the field the last few years. There's no doubt. He's got a real chance here to, like, remind people how awesome he is. And if they do get in the playoffs, that would be like, oh, whoa. Damn. Rodgers is-- he's still amazing.

And then if he can let it fly in the playoffs, like you were talking about a minute ago, and not be careful and worry about perception, you know, that could change our perception about him here. He's got a chance to, you know, change the way everybody views him here for the last year or two of his career. And, you know, hopefully he takes advantage of all the opportunities to set himself up for success there.

MIKE FLORIO: Now, during the press conference he said he's only thinking about this year. During one of the scrums that happened afterward-- because he talks to this person, that person, talks to reporters, talks whatever. He says this isn't a one and done in my mind. This is a commitment. So stronger than and something that should make Jets fans feel good, especially about what they gave up to get Aaron Rodgers. It quite possibly isn't a one-year thing. He hasn't made the full-throated commitment, but it may not be a one-year thing.

And at one point too he talked about playing into his 40s, which implies more than just the year that he turns 40 in December. If you play into your 40s, you're at least going to be playing until 2024, and that is critical for the Jets.

You know, it was funny. I kept the coverage on after the press conference. And I love Nick Mangold, but it was laughable seeing him twist himself up in knots trying to defend what they gave up to get Aaron Rodgers, acting like going from 13 to 15 is no big deal. It's a huge deal. 13 overall to 15 overall is a huge freaking deal, Nick.

And oh, well, hey, you know, next year's first-round pick if it becomes a first-round pick, well, that means we had a great season. No, all it means is he took 65% of the snaps. There isn't even a guarantee you win a single game. You could have a top-five pick. He could miss six games. They could lose a ton of games. They could be in the top five. And as long as he takes 65% of the snaps, that top-five pick is going to the Green Bay Packers.

It was a bad trade. They got fleeced, and I think that was part of yesterday too. Let's not spend a lot of time talking about what we gave up to get this guy. Let's make it all positive and future and focus on that. Let's not do any navel gazing about the fact that he was never playing for the Packers again. The Jets were competing with no one, and they gave up all that stuff because, at the end of the day, they wanted him.

And somebody raised the point with me, just a reader with an email that came last night. It makes a ton of sense. And I'd give the person credit if I had the email in front of me right now.

But this is on the Jets from the standpoint of they allowed the horse to get out of the barn to the point where it created the expectation they were going to get him. They had to get him. They had to get him. They had to do it.

And it gets back to Woody. I really do think on Monday Woody said, we just got to get this damn thing done. We've got to get this done.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: We don't need this hovering over us during the draft. We don't need this happening during the draft. The Packers are saying they want to do it done-- they want it to be done today or else. I don't want to find out what else means. We've got to get this damn thing done, and they did, and they gave up too much. But you're right. Hey, if they win a Super Bowl, it wasn't too much. The question is how much less than that makes it too much--

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: --that they gave up to get him.

CHRIS SIMMS: That's right. That's the danger, right. There's a limit where we go, yeah, that was not good-enough performance, and whoa, you guys gave up way too much for the results you got back. And, you know, that puts a little more pressure on the situation, you know, all of them across the board.

And, you know, I'm with you too. It was expensive. It was rich. You know, like I said yesterday, I'm never going to be mad at a team for making a move that they feel like gets them over the top, especially at the quarterback position.

And the part I don't understand-- I can swallow the 13 to 15 thing. It's the second part that you talked about. That's where I have a hard time thinking. If the Jets just said no condition does it go to the first round and it's just a second-round pick for 2024, I feel like the Packers wanted these picks bad. They would have done that no matter what because of all the reasons you explained. He's not playing quarterback there. It's moving on. I think if they just would have waited a little longer in this week, it would have happened. I mean, that just would be my sense in following football, you know, all along.

But yeah, something-- somebody got antsy with the Jets, and I'm with you. If you made me bet money, I would bet it's ownership that got a little antsy and wanted to get it done. Expensive, but I'm not mad at them for the move. I'm not.

MIKE FLORIO: And so to follow up on what I said earlier this week-- in the event that any of the folks out there listening or watching-- or are watching missed it, I think that the Packers were more committed to their nuclear option than the Jets were committed to theirs--

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, maybe.

MIKE FLORIO: --because at the end of the day, Rogers was not showing up and squatting. Rodgers wasn't going to say, I'll take $60 million to sit on the bench. The Packers were willing to do it, the David Bakhtiari thing from a couple of weeks ago that he threw out there as a possibility. I think the Packers were more willing to do it than Aaron Rodgers was willing to go along with getting $60 million to be emasculated and benched and frustrated and stuck behind Jordan Love. No amount of money would allow him to go through that.

And they know him well enough, 18 years. They knew. Full generation. They knew that Aaron Rodgers wouldn't do it, and it worked out well for the Packers.

Before we pivot to that, I see this quote from Robert Saleh who, again, was talking not at the press conference but in other settings yesterday. Rodgers already went to one of the meetings today and was walking around barefoot, so he's right at home.

This guy needs to learn a lesson or two about, you know, how filthy floors are in LaGuardia and New York. Can you fill him in on that? Wear your shoes, Aaron. You never know what you're going to catch, and--

CHRIS SIMMS: Not in that facility.

MIKE FLORIO: --please don't pick up a hamburger and eat it if you drop it at the airport.

CHRIS SIMMS: Don't do that. Don't do that. But he's comfortable, apparently, already. All right, good. He's feeling his-- you know, natural vibes and all that, whatever.

But that facility-- that facility is nice, Mike. I mean, that's the kind of facility there where if you drop something on the floor you might go, hey, it's pretty damn clean, all right? I wouldn't recommend it, but it's funny to hear that he was walking around with bare feet already.

MIKE FLORIO: But this is one thing I've learned from my wife.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: Floor is still floor.

CHRIS SIMMS: Floor is floor no matter what.

MIKE FLORIO: Wherever you go, the floor is the floor.

CHRIS SIMMS: Right.

MIKE FLORIO: All the dirty stuff that every shoe has been in is touching that floor.

CHRIS SIMMS: Oh, I get you.

MIKE FLORIO: Everything.

CHRIS SIMMS: Why does-- I don't understand--

MIKE FLORIO: So I don't care how clean it is. The floor is still the floor.

CHRIS SIMMS: I'm a big, like, take off your shoes when you come in my house, period. That's the way I am, you know? We at one point lived in Boston, right in downtown, the city, right? People are walking off the sidewalks. You take your shoes off. I don't want that crap. You know, dog crapped on the sidewalk. Kids spit on the sidewalk. Are you going to walk in my house?

MIKE FLORIO: Thank you. Thank you. We understand.

CHRIS SIMMS: You got the picture?

MIKE FLORIO: Yeah.

CHRIS SIMMS: Right. So you're exactly right.

MIKE FLORIO: We understand the hazards. Yeah.

CHRIS SIMMS: You're exactly right. Well, I don't understand. We're like the only culture in the world that still lets people wear their shoes around their house, you know? It happens a lot, and I'm always kind of surprised about that when I go into other people's houses.