Aaron Rodgers chose the Jets over a trade to divisional rival

One thing was quite clear at the conclusion of last season, Aaron Rodgers' time with the Green Bay Packers was over. While the future Hall of Famer eventually landed in New York to play for the Jets, it was a different AFC East team reportedly making a play for his services.

According to Craig Carton of FS1, it was New England attempting to make a move for the now-Jets signal caller, and that was not met with mutual interest. The response from Rodgers' camp? "No, we ain't playing for New England. We want to be a Jet."

Whether or not this rumor is actually true is up for debate. It seems like there are plenty of people not involved in actual football activities who have been actively trying to run Mac Jones out of New England, but that does not necessarily mean that Rodgers was actually close to ending up as a Patriot.

If this trade attempt was real, the fact that Rodgers was not interested in New England is hardly a surprise.

Aaron Rodgers made the right call to pick Jets over Patriots

Taking a step back and assessing the situation from a broad perspective, this would not be a match made in heaven, it would be hell. Rodgers has become more publicly eccentric as his career has gone on, and that does not seem to be a good match for the way Bill Belichick likes to do things in New England.

There have been individuals in the Patriots building with some of the traits that Rodgers has shown lately, but the ones who were successful earned that ability over a long period of time. New England has taken a few shots by bringing in already established players like this, and with the exception of Randy Moss, who's value was at an all-time low, things did not work out like they had hoped.

At some point in time, the actual story will come out and everyone will definitively know once and for all just how close Aaron Rodgers was to becoming a Patriot.

But for now, Rodgers is just the most recent quarterback who will eventually make his way to Canton, making a pit stop in New York as the Jets quarterback.

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