Aaron Rodgers will be wearing a new number for his new team.
Rodgers will reportedly wear No. 8, which he wore during his collegiate at the University of California, during his first season with the New York Jets in 2023 after the team acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers on Monday (April 24), ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. The four-time NFL MVP had previously worn No. 12 throughout his NFL career, which the Jets retired in honor of Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath.
Namath had reportedly given Rodgers his blessing to wear No. 12 after the quarterback publicly expressed his interest to be traded to the Jets last month.
"Although Hall-of-Fame QB Joe Namath gave Aaron Rodgers his blessing to wear No. 12, the new Jets‘ QB is expected to wear No. 8 — the number he wore in college at Cal," Schefter tweeted.
The Packers will receive three picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft -- a first-rounder (No. 13 overall), a second-rounder (No. 42) and a sixth-rounder (No. 207) -- as well as a conditional 2024 second-round pick, which will become a first-rounder if Rodgers plays 65% of the Jets' offensive plays in 2023, according to Schefter. The Jets will also receive the Packers' first-round pick (No. 15) and fifth-round pick (No. 170).
On March 15, Rodgers publicly acknowledged his intention to play for the Jets next season.
"Since Friday, my intention was to play and play for the NY Jets," Rodgers said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
Rodgers met with Jets owner Woody Johnson and a contingent of team representatives in California on March 7. New York had previously acquired Rodgers' predecessor, Brett Favre, in a trade with the Packers in 2008, which led to the eventual four-time NFL MVP taking over as Green Bay's starting quarterback for the remainder of his tenure with the franchise.
In January, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Jets were "a very real scenario" in a possible trade for Rodgers even prior to the hiring of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who had previously held the same position in Green Bay and Rodgers had publicly praised following his hiring as the Denver Broncos' head coach last offseason. Rodgers led the NFL's top scoring offense during the first of two consecutive Associated Press Most Valuable Player award-winning seasons in 2020, both of which took place during Hackett's tenure with the Packers.
Rodgers signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Packers last offseason amid previous reports of being disgruntled with the franchise. The 39-year-old was coming off back-to-back MVP seasons ahead of the 2022 NFL season, which resulted in Green Bay missing the playoffs after clinching a postseason berth during the previous three consecutive seasons and 11 of the past 13 years.
Rodgers leads all Packers quarterbacks with 475 touchdowns and ranks second in franchise history behind only Favre in QB wins (147), completions (5,001) and passing yards (7,660).
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