Darren Mougey, the general manager of the New York Jets, set the record straight on Tuesday about what led up to the team’s high-profile split from star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
He said that a reported ultimatum demanding Rodgers cease outside media appearances was never given—and added that his departure was simply in pursuit of a “different direction” for the team.
Earlier this month, a report from The Athletic claimed that Mougey and Jets head coach Aaron Glenn were “undecided” about keeping Rodgers as quarterback, but were open to considering it if he complied with a few changes—such as giving up his weekly appearances on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show.
“I’m not going to discuss any private discussions that I have with Aaron throughout this process and really with any private discussions I’ve had with any player for that matter,” Mougey said Tuesday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
“I’m not here to confirm or deny any rumors that happened during that process. I will say this: There was never an ultimatum or rules of engagement for Aaron to potentially join the Jets again. That never happened,” he continued.
Instead, Mougey disclosed that he and Glenn had “a lot of conversations” and ultimately felt that the best thing for the Jets to do moving forward was to “go in a different direction at the quarterback position.”
“A lot of respect for Aaron Rodgers as a player. First-ballot Hall of Famer,” Mougey added. “Wish him nothing but the best, but that was a decision we made and look forward to kind of moving past that into this next process here with free agency and the draft.”
The Jets GM noted that the team is keeping “all options open” regarding their next quarterback and “really every position.”
Rodgers’ departure from the Jets was announced in early February. The quarterback was traded to the team by the Green Bay Packers in 2023, and served a two-year stint before the Jets decided to move on without him.
While Rodgers’ career is home to a pool of impressive feats, it also is rife with controversy.
He notably told reporters in 2021 that he was “immunized” against COVID-19 when asked about his vaccination status—a statement that turned out to be false after he revealed that he had never actually taken the jab.
Following that controversy, he regularly launched into anti-vaccine rants on The Pat McAfee Show.
In one November 2021 episode of the show, Rodgers said he was in “the crosshairs of the woke mob” and warned of the “final nail” getting put into his “cancel culture casket” after voicing his vaccine skepticism. He then claimed that he was “allergic” to an ingredient in the vaccines.
The NFL also reportedly fined Rodgers $14,650 that same month for attending a Halloween event while unvaccinated. His vaccine controversy eventually trickled its way up to the termination of his sponsorship deal with Prevea Health, a Wisconsin-based health company, that he had had worked with since 2012.
Rodgers also made headlines in March 2024 after CNN reported that he denied the authenticity of the Sandy Hook school shooting in private conversations. He has denied this claim.
Later that year, a Netflix docuseries on Rodgers—Aaron Rodgers: Enigma—shed light on his ayahuasca usage. The quarterback disclosed that he has participated in nine ayahuasca ceremonies, consuming the hallucinogenic drug to search for “where people in life are finding deep peace and centeredness and presence.”
