Aaron Rodgers' Top NFL Landing Spots for 2025 Amid Rumors About Jets QB's Future

The Aaron Rodgers experiment in New York is almost certainly nearing an end after just two seasons in a Jets uniform, with the first one limited to a total of four snaps before he tore his Achilles.

Per Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Rodgers is looking to continue his playing career in 2025, "just not for the New York Jets."

There's certainly a sense that the feeling is mutual for the Jets. Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic reported on Friday that team owner Woody Johnson may not even "want" the four-time MVP back.

It's been awhile since anyone could say the Jets do things smartly, but an organization that will be hiring a new general manager and head coach in the offseason not tying itself to a soon-to-be 41-year-old quarterback who isn't playing well qualifies as a good bit of business.

As for the Rodgers part of the equation, trying to find a landing spot would seem to be extremely difficult given his age. There is also the matter of how specific he is with what he wants from an organization and who he wants to work with.

The Jets bent over backwards over the past two years to give Rodgers everything he wanted. They brought in former Green Bay Packers teammates Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb as free agents and hired former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to the same role last year.

As soon as Davante Adams decided he wanted to leave the Las Vegas Raiders, the Jets swooped in to add the veteran receiver in a trade.

One thing Russini's report doesn't mention is if Rodgers would be willing to take a role as a backup, or at least enter a situation where he wouldn't necessarily be guaranteed a starting job.

Unless Rodgers is willing to show some flexibility in his approach—or an organization decides it's worth it to give him the keys to the franchise, similar to what the Jets did—his options could be extremely limited.

Here are some of the teams that might make sense as a landing spot for Rodgers in 2025.

Cleveland Browns

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CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 20: Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns reacts during player introductions prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns Stadium on October 20, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The Browns are in a terrible spot because Deshaun Watson's contract makes it virtually impossible for them to move on from him until after next season, at the earliest.

It's also because of Watson's contract that the Browns really can't look to start rebuilding their roster. He was already playing like the worst quarterback in the NFL before rupturing his Achilles in a Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer noted prior to the Browns' 24-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night that Watson is unlikely to be healthy by the spring as he recovers from surgery, so they will bring in competition at quarterback either via free agency or the draft.

Considering the Browns still have a lot of talent on defense, led by Myles Garrett, and a very good offensive play-calling head coach in Kevin Stefanski, maybe they could convince Rodgers to take a very low base-salary deal with a lot of playing-time incentives to challenge Watson for the starting job.

Stefanski has utilized a version of the Shanahan system throughout his career. Former Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is also a Shanahan disciple with a system that helped get back-to-back MVP seasons out of Rodgers in 2020 and 2021.

No one should expect Rodgers to return to that level, but a strong offensive voice might be what he needs to put together one last decent season after everything that happened with the Jets.

As bad as Rodgers has looked at times this season, he's still been better than Watson was. It wouldn't take much for him to win a quarterback battle if Watson is even able to compete for the job given his recovery from the Achilles injury.

Las Vegas Raiders

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CINCINNATI, OHIO - NOVEMBER 03: Mark Davis the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on November 03, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

It should be stated upfront that the last thing the Raiders should do is invest in a 41-year-old quarterback.

Their best approach, honestly, might be to trade Maxx Crosby for a package that could reasonably bring back two first-round draft picks plus additional compensation because he's a game-changer. They are a rebuilding franchise that rarely operates in that mode.

It's also worth pointing out that Rodgers going to the Raiders after Adams got out of Las Vegas would be quite humorous. He would get to work with Brock Bowers, who already looks like a superstar at tight end.

With those caveats out of the way, Raiders owner Mark Davis definitely seems like the type who would give a large share of control of his roster to a marquee player who would at least keep them in the headlines. He sold a percentage of the franchise to Tom Brady in part so he can help recruit players to Vegas.

None of these are practical reasons to bring in Rodgers, but the Raiders aren't afraid to make bold moves.

The Raiders are currently playing with Gardner Minshew II as their starting quarterback. He has the third-lowest QBR in the NFL out of 32 qualified quarterbacks, so Rodgers would at least give them a slight upgrade in performance and a massive upgrade in name recognition at the most important position on the field.

Tennessee Titans

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Brian Callahan of the Tennessee Titans looks on in the second quarter of a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Nissan Stadium on November 17, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

The Titans would own the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft if the season ended today. Barring some sort of unexpected turnaround from Will Levis, they will almost certainly be bringing in a new quarterback early in the first round.

This isn't a year where there is an obvious quarterback at the top of the class that all of the bad teams are chasing like there was last year with Caleb Williams.

Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are the top two quarterbacks in the class and the eighth- and ninth-ranked players overall, respectively, per B/R's NFL scouting department.

There's not really a good justification to bring in Rodgers as competition if the Titans were to get either Ward or Sanders, but as mentioned previously, the options are extremely limited for a player at this point in his career.

It's not uncommon for teams to bring in a bridge quarterback if they have a rookie they feel isn't ready to start right away. The problem with that is we just saw how that can backfire because the New England Patriots wasted five starts on Jacoby Brissett when it turned out Drake Maye was more than capable of handling himself.

Ward and Sanders aren't the same style of quarterback as Maye. Neither one is particularly renowned for their ability to move out of the pocket and create plays with their legs, so they are closer to Rodgers in that regard.

The Titans spent money this past offseason like a team that wanted to have a quick turnaround. They traded for L'Jarius Sneed in a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, then signed him to a four-year, $76.4 million contract. Calvin Ridley signed a four-year, $92 million deal as a free agent.

They project to have $72.2 million in cap space, so there's no financial reason they couldn't take a shot on Rodgers to see what he has to offer. The AFC South isn't a juggernaut division, and a good quarterback could be enough to get them back into playoff contention.