Jets GM Joe Douglas knows he got fleeced for Aaron Rodgers

When the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers linked up the Aaron Rodgers trade, there was one winner and a clear loser.

The Jets did not hold firm in Aaron Rodgers trade negotiations, and that’s just fine.

New York was desperate for a quarterback this offseason, and after getting into a months-long tug of war with the Packers, they didn’t leave themselves with much of a choice but to give into Green Bay’s demands just days before the NFL Draft.

In the end, the final trade package sent to the Packers looked closely aligned with Brian Gutekunst’s demands, rather than what the Jets were comfortable with:

So essentially, Green Bay earned to right to move up two picks in this year’s first, and the conditional second-round selection next season could become a first if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays for the Jets in the 2023 season.

Jets GM won’t admit he lost Aaron Rodgers trade to Packers

Somewhere along the line, Joe Douglas knew he had to give in to what the Packers were asking of him. The Jets needed to move forward, ideally before the NFL Draft, with Rodgers in tow. Still, he wasn’t going to tell the media that.

“We’re comfortable with how this deal is shaped. In any negotiation, I don’t think anyone walks away where you feel you won everything. But ultimately our goal from the beginning was to add Aaron to the team. We were able to agree to terms on that yesterday and excited to get him in here,” Douglas said on Tuesday.

Even that admission, as brief as it was, made it clear that Douglas had to back off his own demands somewhat to accommodate Green Bay. FanSided’s Cody Williams agreed in his own diagnosis of this deal, which he graded an A for the Packers:

“More importantly, though, the Packers come out of this trade as the winners. They hit that reset button but get to do so with a bevy of draft capital now that includes a Top 13 pick, two second-round picks, and a full overall draft haul otherwise, including, at worst, a second-rounder in next year’s draft. It was a monster deal and one that could pay off hugely for the Pack in the long run, especially as they hope to get Love off on the right foot.”

The Jets opened their Super Bowl window, but it came at a cost.