Aaron Glenn's stance on Aaron Rodgers increases odds of NY Jets return in 2025

The NY Jets will begin a fresh chapter in their franchise's history this year with the addition of new head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey. The team hopes this new regime will kickstart a new era of Jets football — one that yields a bit more success than previous regimes.

But before the Jets jump into free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, they will need to make a decision on the future of one man: quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Rodgers decision will be the most important talking point for the Jets this offseason.

Rodgers has made it clear that all options remain on the table, while the Jets have yet to publicly reveal their plans. That's because the team expects Mougey and Glenn to be the primary voices behind that decision.

Speculation has mounted that the arrival of Glenn could signal a return for Rodgers in 2025, and a report from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport on Sunday seems to further that notion.

Aaron Glenn is 'open to' an Aaron Rodgers NY Jets return in 2025

Rapoport reported that Glenn is "open to" a Rodgers return next season, and that feeling appears to be mutual. The Jets will put together their front office and coaching staff before making any final decision on Rodgers, but it seems like there's a real chance he'll be back in 2025.

The Rodgers decision is a complicated one and has just as much to do with finances as it does his performance and age. The Jets could release Rodgers this offseason and take the full $49 million dead cap hit up front. The cap situation becomes a lot trickier if the Jets bring him back.

Rodgers has a $35 million option bonus built into his contract that triggers if he's on the Jets' roster come Week 1 of 2025. His current contract runs through 2025, but void years (combined with that option bonus) make his dead cap hit a major issue in the coming years.

The Jets would be forced to eat $63 million in dead cap after 2025 if he's retained this offseason. They could eat that entire sum of money upfront or designate him as a post-June 1st cut in 2026, giving the team as much as $42 million in dead cap in 2027.

It's hard to imagine that the Glenn/Mougey regime would be willing to sacrifice the Jets' financial future for the sake of one year of possible contention in 2025. Glenn may be "open" to a Rodgers return, but it likely won't be on his current contract.

If Rodgers is willing to take a significant pay cut and completely re-do his contract, perhaps it could make sense for the Jets to run it back with the four-time MVP as a bridge quarterback. After all, he's almost definitely their best option to compete next season.

That's a conversation Glenn will have with Mougey, Woody Johnson, and the rest of the Jets' decision-makers over the coming weeks. Nothing is certain at this time, but the odds of Rodgers returning in 2025 appear much higher than they did a few weeks ago.

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