The drama surrounding the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers is finally finished, as he was traded to the New York Jets earlier this afternoon in a blockbuster deal that involved several draft picks on both ends switching sides.
The full trade:
Green Bay receives:
No. 13 overall pick (first round)
No. 42 overall pick (second round)
No. 207 overall pick (sixth round)
Conditional second-round pick in 2024
New York receives:
QB Aaron Rodgers
No. 15 overall pick (first round)
No. 170 overall pick (fifth round)
However, he won't be wearing his traditional jersey number 12 when he pulls on the Jets jersey for the first time. Because that number is retired for Joe Namath, Rodgers will instead revert back to the number 8 that he wore while playing collegiate football.
The Jets legend had given Rodgers the green light to wear number 12 if he so chose.
"I'm a big Rodgers fan, and I noticed that he wears number 12, of course. I'm thinking, well man, if we get him on our side, is he still going to wearing number 12? Because the number was retired years ago," Namath said on the "Tiki & Tierney" show.
"Well, this is what I'm saying, it's on ownership. It's different ownership. It's different people. And I'd sure love Rodgers, if he's there, I want him to wear his number," Namath said. "We established ourselves and we've got a real respect for our numbers, and Aaron Rodgers, God almighty, yeah! It'd be great to have him in New York."
While Rodgers was discussing his desire to play for the Jets earlier in the year, he addressed the subject by saying there would be time to have that conversation at a later time.
"With respect to the emotions, I think there'll be time for all those conversations down the road," Rodgers explained on "The Pat McAfee Show". "Today was about talking about the past and the love I have for the team and then giving an update on what's going on today.
"So that's a great question. I've seen what Joe said. There'll be time to talk about that down the road."
