Peter King on Aaron Rodgers Return: QB 'Has Pangs' About How Jets Bent to His Desires

Even Aaron Rodgers is beginning to question how much the New York Jets centered the franchise around the star quarterback, according to NBC Sports' Peter King.

King reported Monday in his weekly column that Rodgers "has pangs about how much the Jets bent their organization, team and locker room to his desires when the Packers traded him to New York." That could be influencing his desire to push for a return from his torn Achilles much earlier than anybody expected.

"If he can be sure he is reasonably recovered, without a significant risk of re-tearing the Achilles, I think he'd strongly consider playing, whatever the Jets' record is," King wrote. "I think he may feel a personal need to come back to a team that remade itself for him and is struggling incredibly with terrible quarterback play since he was lost in the first game of the season."

The Jets made sure to accommodate the four-time MVP well before he arrived, hiring Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator and then signing former teammates Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Tim Boyle. Rodgers' injury exposed the inherent risk in that plan.

For basically the entire season, New York has been a team built with one player in mind, only without the services of that player. And even if the 39-year-old were healthy, it might not be enough to cover for multiple personnel whiffs in the offseason.

When it comes to Rodgers' possible return this year, the sunk cost fallacy comes to mind.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Rodgers could practice as early as this week and that the veteran signal-caller is hopeful of playing by Dec. 24 against the Washington Commanders.

By then, the 4-7 Jets are likely to have been eliminated from playoff contention, leaving them with little to gain in the short term over their final three games. That would be balanced against the risk of Rodgers aggravating his Achilles or suffering a related injury by making what would be an almost unprecedented comeback.

As much as New York and Rodgers will want to end the season on a high, shutting him down and focusing on 2024 might be the smarter call.