NFL schedule makers clearly aren’t worried that the New York Jets may miss out on landing Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
As shared by Ryan Gilbert of Audacy and Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North explained during an appearance on the “It’s Always Gameday In Buffalo” podcast that the league is “assuming, for now,” that Rodgers is “going to be the quarterback of the Jets, and the schedule reflects that.”
For his “Football Morning in America” column published on March 20, NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote that he expects “the Rodgers-led Jets to get a full complement of prime-time games—five of them” for the 2023 season following the trade that’s been rumored since the early days of this past winter.
“If we get through the draft and there’s any kind of indication that it may not happen, we might hedge a little bit and kind of shift some of our focus – not entirely,” North said about featuring Rodgers and the Jets in specific broadcast windows. “It won’t necessarily be a start from scratch, but it might be a pullback just a little.”
According to Ryan Gosling of Pro Football Network, it is “likely” the full NFL schedule for the 2023 season will be released on May 11. Meanwhile, former Jets quarterback and current “The NFL Today” analyst Boomer Esiason said this past Friday he believes the Jets-Packers trade “will happen relatively soon” and be announced “before the draft” gets underway this Thursday night. A report from Sunday said that the two teams have re-engaged regarding trade discussions.
It sounds like the Jets and Packers would be doing North a favor by confirming the trade sooner rather than later as the schedule makers consider what to do about Gang Green’s 2023 games versus top-tier opponents such as the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
“Obviously they play the Bills twice. They’ve got an incredible schedule next year. They play Kansas City, they play Dallas, they play Philly,” North added about the Jets. “I mean, if Aaron Rodgers is their quarterback we’re going to do something with those games. If Aaron Rodgers isn’t the quarterback of the Jets we’re going to do something with those games but maybe not as much.”
Offensive tackle David Bakhtiari recently became the latest person associated with the Packers to declare that the club is moving on from Rodgers to 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Love as its starting quarterback. That doesn’t mean Green Bay and New York are close to completing a trade, but North’s comments suggest league officials think there’s little chance a team such as the San Francisco 49ers could swoop in and steal Rodgers from the Jets before September.
