The Zach Wilson era appears to be over in New York. The Jets have granted the embattled QB permission to seek a trade. It's a move that has been expected since the team owner said that the team "didn't have a backup quarterback" last season. The team will work closely with Wilson's agent to try and move the former second-overall pick. It is widely expected that Wilson, who has never settled in the NFL, will garner a late-round pick at most.
However, the Jets are eager to find a quality backup for Aaron Rodgers. "We're still really early in the offseason, especially when it comes to the veteran backup landscape and market. We've had good meetings and good evaluations with the guys that are available, and I think we're ready to take the next step and see where the market is exactly with these backup quarterbacks," GM Joe Douglas said this week.
Aaron Rodgers Blasts Jets For "Chicken Sh*t" Locker Room Leaks
All this comes at the end of a tense year for the Jets. In December, Aaron Rodgers publicly criticized the New York Jets for a number of locker room leaks that appeared to villainize benched quarterback Zach Wilson. "That's a problem with the organization. We need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately, because there's no place in a winning culture where -- and this isn't the only time. There's been a bunch of other leaks," Rodgers told The Pat McAfee Show.
The leaks in question stemmed from an article published by The Athletic. Anonymous locker room sources had told the outlet that Wilson appeared "reluctant" to resume QB1 duties with the Jets all but eliminated from playoff contention. These sources speculated that, much like a college player sitting out a bowl game, Wilson is wary of getting injured before he likely joins a new team next season. Rodgers questioned why someone within the Jets organization would want to "assassinate someone's character like that report does for Zach". Furthermore, Rodgers called the rumors "chicken sh-t at its core".
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