Aaron Rodgers' NY Jets return more likely after top QB opts out of NFL Draft

The NY Jets will have to make a decision on their quarterback plans for 2025 in the near future, and while it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Aaron Rodgers would be gone not long ago, plans may have changed.

Rodgers has strung together a series of impressive performances and looks healthier than he has all season. While his future status remains unclear, the Jets might be forced to reconsider their 2025 agenda.

The quarterback market is expected to be relatively thin this offseason. A combination of an underwhelming free-agent class and a below-average QB draft class means that there will be more teams looking for a quarterback than available quarterbacks in the coming months.

That draft class just got even thinner following an announcement from Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who confirmed on Monday that he will return to college for another year and set his sights on the 2026 NFL Draft.

Allar's stock has been soaring in recent weeks and he had a legitimate chance to end up as a top-10 pick in the draft. Instead, a weak quarterback class just became even weaker.

Drew Allar decision could force NY Jets to keep Aaron Rodgers

The Jets' victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15 dropped the team to eighth overall in the current 2025 NFL Draft order. A loss would've seen the Jets climb up to the top four. This win essentially confirms the Jets won't have a top-three pick in this year's draft.

That unfortunately means the Jets will likely miss out on the consensus top-two quarterback prospects in Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. It's hard to envision a scenario in which either ends up in Florham Park at this stage.

Allar was widely seen as one of two or three other quarterback prospects with a chance to be selected in the top 10. Alabama's Jalen Milroe has also garnered top-10 consideration, but that's not a lock by any means.

Allar’s decision to return to school removes one option from the Jets’ 2025 quarterback plans. With fewer viable alternatives in the draft, the likelihood of the Jets sticking with Rodgers next season increases, not necessarily out of confidence in his play but because the team may simply have no better alternative.

Outside of Sam Darnold (who may still return to Minnesota), this year's crop of free-agent quarterbacks isn't promising. Justin Fields, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton, Mac Jones, and Jimmy Garoppolo headline the list of names expected to be available.

The Jets also have the option of rolling with Tyrod Taylor in 2025, but if the team isn't in a position to land one of the top quarterback prospects, that isn't a very appealing scenario. Rodgers might be their best bet.

Allar would have been a fun developmental project to learn behind a bridge quarterback like Taylor or Brissett, but at this stage, a Rodgers return in 2025 absolutely cannot be ruled out. The Jets might just run it back.

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