Ryan Leaf thinks the New York Jets should be all-in on one specific quarterback, and it might not be the one people would expect.
Leaf appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” Wednesday and suggested that the Jets should be trying to land Lamar Jackson from the Baltimore Ravens, not Aaron Rodgers. Leaf questioned whether Rodgers could actually propel the Jets to the top of the AFC and suggested that Jackson was better positioned to accomplish that.
"You are the New York #Jets. Do you think bringing in Aaron Rodgers would help you leap frog Buffalo, Cincy, Kansas City, even Jacksonville and Los Angeles."
–@RyanDLeaf explains why he wouldn't want Aaron Rodgers if he were the Jets
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— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 8, 2023
“You are the New York Jets. Do you honestly think you bring in an Aaron Rodgers, the team is good enough if you add that piece, they leapfrog Buffalo, they leapfrog Cincinnati, they leapfrog Kansas City?” Leaf said. “I’m even going to throw Jacksonville and Los Angeles into the equation, maybe Miami. Do you think they leapfrog all those people? Because you only get him for a year.
“I would sign (Jackson) to his offer sheet, toss over those couple first round draft picks, and now you got the whole team that you had there before, and you got a guy for the next five years in his prime playing in New York where you have been just absolutely anemic at the quarterback position.”
Plenty of people would probably agree with Leaf’s stance here. Former Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall also advocated against adding Rodgers, though his preferred option, Derek Carr, is now off the table.
Adding Rodgers would presumably be a short-term move for the Jets. That is risky for a team that is otherwise very young, not that the young core of players cares that much.
It is worth noting that the Jets may be comfortable with Rodgers as a short-term fix because of their supposed long-term faith in Zach Wilson, as unlikely as that may be.
