After the prolonged trade saga, the New York Jets successfully completed the blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers to acquire the four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers as the Packers traded long-time QB to the Gang Green for the No. 13, No. 42 (second round), and No. 207 (sixth round) picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, marking an end of his 18 years tenure with the franchise.
Following the sensational trade, the Jets reassigned their former starter Zach Wilson to a backup role who amid ongoing rumors of a veteran player becoming the starter for 2023, told reporters he was going to ‘make that dude’s life hell in practice every day’, albeit it was on a positive note.
What did the Jets’ GM say about their plan regarding Zach Wilson following the trade of Aaron Rodgers?
The Jets GM Joe Douglas recently made an appearance on #PFTPM and stated they could have used their young quarterback Zach Wilson differently to bring out his potential to a large extent, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
“I go back and I look at a lot of things and things that can be done differently, things that were in our control, out of our control. And every situation’s different. I feel like in today’s NFL, when you take a quarterback in the first round, and you take a quarterback high, time’s against you. And you need to see what you have so you can make a decision in that four-year window, three-year window”, he said.
Douglas believes Wilson’s career could have been different if they had a veteran quarterback like Joe Flacco that first season for the young QB.
“I think going back, it would have been great to have a veteran quarterback like a Joe Flacco that first season. But ultimately, we made the decision to jump in head first with our youth movement…And so, I think if I had to do everything over again, I would have probably had that veteran presence in the room early for Zach”, he added.
The Jets GM had high praises for their second pick in the 2021 NFL Draft in his statement.
“Zach has an unbelievable ceiling and Zach is wired the right way in terms of his love of the game, his work ethic, his attention to detail”, Douglas stated.
Joe sees a silver lining after the inclusion of Aaron and believes the 23-year-old player can capitalize on the opportunity to learn from the 10-time Pro Bowler.
“And so, this is a great opportunity for him to shadow one of the best passers of all time in Aaron Rodgers and pick up every little thing he can from him and get better every day.”
Zach threw for only 4,022 yards throughout his two-year career, compiling 15 touchdowns to 18 interceptions, and managed to complete just 55.2 percent of his passes in 22 games.
Despite the performance stat, the Jets have high hopes for their promising player, and believe Rodgers‘ guidance will be instrumental in helping him realize his full potential and evolve into the star quarterback they envisioned when they drafted him.
