Aaron Rodgers convinced NY Jets owner not to fire Nathaniel Hackett

The NY Jets recognized that they had a major issue with their offensive coaching staff last season. The most prominent source of that issue was offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was largely blamed for the team's offensive woes in 2023.

Despite numerous Jets players advocating for change and even Woody Johnson contemplating the decision, Nathaniel Hackett kept his role entering the 2024 season. The reason boiled down to one man: Aaron Rodgers.

A revealing report from The Athletic on Thursday detailed Hackett's retention and highlighted Rodgers' influence in ensuring his close friend's continued presence on the team.

As the story goes, "several Jets players and coaches — Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, in particular — were unhappy with Hackett throughout the 2023 campaign." News got out that Johnson was thinking of firing Hackett, prompting Rodgers to step in.

Aaron Rodgers is the reason the NY Jets didn't fire Nathaniel Hackett

The conversation between Johnson and Rodgers reportedly "didn’t go over well," according to a current Jets executive. Despite this, Johnson relented and didn't force then-head coach Robert Saleh to fire Hackett, much like he had with Mike LaFleur the year prior.

Hackett retained his job but was demoted as offensive play-caller following a 2-3 start to the season. Saleh planned to demote Hackett but was fired before the move could become official. Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich followed through on Saleh's plan and made Todd Downing the new play-caller in Week 6.

The Jets attempted to hire a senior offensive assistant in the offseason, essentially a coach who would babysit Hackett and ideally reduce his role. The likes of Arthur Smith, Kliff Kingsbury, Luke Getsy, and Eric Bieniemy all spoke to the Jets but decided to take jobs elsewhere.

Rodgers' insistence on retaining Hackett isn’t surprising. Anyone familiar with the Jets' dynamics over the past few years likely already assumed this was the case.

Perhaps this was a moment where Johnson should have stepped in and overruled his quarterback. The report highlights several instances where Johnson used his authority to override his team’s top decision-makers. But for whatever reason — possibly due to his admiration of Rodgers — he didn't listen this time.

Rodgers later implored Johnson to remain patient following the Jets' 2-3 start to the season. Johnson fired Saleh the following morning. Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich was forced to "calm the waters with Rodgers, who hadn’t been in favor of firing Saleh."

The Jets are a dysfunctional mess of an organization where the team's supposed top decision-makers have frequently been overruled by a power-hungry, influential Hall of Fame quarterback and an impulsive, egotistical owner in over his head.

That is the state of the 2024 New York Jets. All Jets fans can hope for is a clean slate with a new regime — and quite possibly a new quarterback.

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