Aaron Rodgers clarified Wednesday that while he does want to play quarterback for the Jets, he is not interested in being their general manager.
Appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers said he did not demand the Jets sign anyone as a prerequisite for him to agree to go to the team. An ESPN report on Tuesday said that Rodgers had given the Jets a “wish list” of players for them to target that included his former teammates Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Marcedes Lewis and also former Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. The Jets did agree to a deal with Lazard on Tuesday.
But Rodgers took umbrage with the perception that he was forcing the Jets to sign anyone.
“From what I’ve seen, it’s like I had a sheet of paper when I met with the Jets and I said, ‘Sign these people.’ That’s not the reality,” Rodgers said. “That’s so ridiculous. It’s so stupid to think I would do that, number one. Now, did they ask me about certain guys that I’ve played with over the years? Of course. Did I talk glowingly about teammates that I love? Yeah.”
Rodgers was colorful in his denial that he demanded the Jets sign certain players.
“People want these things to be so true that I’m in this meeting dressed in ceremony regalia giving them some sort of handwritten on parchment demand list of people they need to sign,” he said.
He later said it was written in Helvetica font.
Rodgers railed against ESPN reporters Dianna Russini and Adam Schefter. Russini was the one who reported that Rodgers had given the Jets a “wish list.” In her defense, she never said it was a list of demands. It was interpreted that way.
As for Schefter, the ESPN insider, Rodgers revealed that Schefter recently texted him and Rodgers responded, “Lose my number. Good try tho.”
Schefter later tweeted a photo of the text from Rodgers.
Rodgers did praise Lazard, who could be his teammate again with the Jets.
“I think objectively a lot of people can look at Allen Lazard and go, ‘He’s a really good player,’ ” Rodgers said. “We would love to have him on his team. Then, anybody with a brain would maybe call me on any team and go, ‘Hey, what kind of locker-room guy is Allen Lazard? What’s his work ethic like?’ And I’d say, ‘He’s a [bleeping] great dude and anybody would be lucky to have him in the locker room.’ ”
As for Beckham?
“First of all, who wouldn’t want to have Odell on their team?” Rodgers said. “What are we talking about here? I don’t have demands. My only demand is for transparency.”
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